1/2 Prutah - Herod the Great

Herod ruled as a client king under Roman authority, his legitimacy always contested — he was Idumean by descent, and a substantial portion of the Jewish population never accepted him as a rightful king. These small bronzes were almost certainly struck to meet everyday market demands in a territory where coinage of this denomination had been intermittent at best. Hendin 1191 is among the more frequently encountered of Herod's issues, though the fabric is notoriously uneven, with many specimens showing off-center strikes attributable to poorly prepared flans rather than die misalignment.