Prutah - John Hyrcanus I

John Hyrcanus I ruled as both High Priest and ethnarch following the assassination of his father Simon Maccabee in 134 BC, and these prutot represent the first systematic bronze coinage struck by a Hasmonean ruler with any regularity. The authority to mint was a politically charged act — Rome had long restricted coinage rights in client territories, and Hyrcanus carefully avoided silver, keeping his issues in bronze to sidestep direct confrontation with Roman monetary prerogatives.

The Hendin 6171 classification covers considerable die variation across a thirty-year reign, and specimens attributed to this type range widely in flan quality and strike centering as a consequence of rudimentary Jerusalemite mint conditions.