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Prutah - Tiberius Pontius Pilate as Prefect
| Issuer | Judea |
|---|---|
| Year | 30-32 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.18 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays a lituus (augural staff), the curved ceremonial wand associated with Roman religious office, oriented vertically within a plain border. The design is rendered in a simple, compact style typical of Judaean provincial coinage of the early first century AD. The date legend LIZ (regnal year 17 of Tiberius) appears in the field surrounding the lituus. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, with surfaces showing characteristic patination of hammered bronze. The deliberately aniconic composition reflects the sensitivity of Pilate's administration to Jewish prohibitions against figural imagery. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Struck under Pontius Pilate during his prefecture of Judaea (26–36 AD), these small bronzes are among the most historically loaded coins in any collection. Pilate governed a restive province and his coinage was deliberately provocative — he was the first prefect to place Roman cultic symbols on Judaean issues, a calculated insult that drew sharp complaints to Rome. The simpulum and lituus, both instruments of Roman augury, appeared on his prutot precisely when Jewish sensitivities about graven images ran highest.
Hendin 1342 and 1343 differ by die year within the series, corresponding to the 16th, 17th, and 18th years of Tiberius.