8 Prutot - Herod the Great

Herod was not yet king when this coin was struck — he was still fighting to take Judaea by force, backed by Roman legions under Sosius. The issue dates to the siege of Jerusalem itself, a brutal campaign that ended with the city taken and Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean ruler, captured and later beheaded at Antony's order. Minting during an active military conquest was a calculated political act, asserting legitimate authority over a city not yet in his hands.

Meshorer 44 is among the heavier bronzes Herod produced, and specimens with full, unclipped flans are genuinely scarce.