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Coming soon.

Coming soon.

After much effort, we have succeeded in minting museum quality reproductions of the shekel and half shekel which were originally minted in the last five years that the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was standing (65-70 CE) (the First Revolt), the shekel of Bar Kochva (131-135 CE) and the Zuzim (quarter Shekel).

First Revolt Shekel and Half Shekel

Obverse (front)

On the obverse (front) of the coin is a cup. Many numismatists suggest that it is a depiction of a cup used to collect the Omer barley (Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:10). On the shekel it says in ancient Hebrew letters: Shekel Yisroel (Shekel of Israel). On the half shekel it says Chatzi Hashekel (half of a shekel). Over the cup is the date. The half shekel says shin beit which stands for shana beit (year two). This corresponds to 66-67 c.e. or 3827 a.m. The shekel says shin hay which stands for shana hey (year five) which was the last year that the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was standing. This corresponds to the year 70 c.e. or 3830 a.m.

Reverse (back)

On the reverse, there are three pomegranates, one of the special fruits of the Land of Israel (Devarim – Deuteronomy 8:8). It says in ancient Hebrew script: Yerushalayim Hakedoshah (Jerusalem the Holy).

These museum quality hand minted reproductions contain one half ounce and one quarter ounce respectively of .999 silver.

Originals of these coins sell for thousands of dollars.

Bar Kochva Shekel (also called Sela)

Obverse

On the obverse (front) is a depiction of the Holy Temple. Above the Temple is a star which may be a symbol for Bar Kochva which means son of the star. Around the sides of the Temple, in ancient Hebrew letters it says Shim`on (Bar Kochva’s first name).

Reverse

On the reverse (back) is a depiction of a lulav and ethrog (palm branch and citron, used on the Festival of Sukkoth (Feast of Booths) (Vayikra – Levitcus 23:40). The inscription, in ancient Hebrew letters, says For the Freedom of Israel.

These museum quality hand minted reproductions contain one half ounce of .999 silver.

Zuzim

A zuz is one quarter of a shekel. The zuz is made famous by its significant position in the refrain of the last song sung at the Pesach Seder (Passover festive service and meal) which talks about the “one goat which my father bought for two zuzim.”

There were two different obverses and five different reverses, making a total of ten basic types.

Two Obverses

The first obverse is a bunch of grapes (one of the fruits for which the Land of Israel is praised in the Bible (Devarim – Deuteronomy 8:8).

The second obverse is a wreath. It is suggested that the wreath is either olive leaves (one of the fruits for which the Land of Israel is praised in the Bible, or myrtle branches, one of the four plants used in the Sukkoth (Feast of Booths) ritual (Vayikra – Levitcus 23:40).

Five Reverses

Narrow Lyre or Harp (sometimes referred to as Kithara) and in Hebrew as Kinnor

Wide Lyre or Harp called Nevel in Hebrew

Palm Branch one of the four plants used in the Sukkoth (Feast of Booths) ritual (Vayikra – Levitcus 23:40)

Pitcher together with Palm Branches. Probably the Pitcher is the kind used to pour the wine offerings on the Mizbe’ach (Altar).

Trumpets called Hatzotzeroth in Hebrew. The Trumpets were used to call marching orders in the desert wanderings and in time of war, and were also used in the Temple Services. (Bamidbar – Numbers 10:8)

Each of our museum quality, hand minted zuzim contains one eighth ounce of .999 silver.

So far, we have produced four of the zuzim types, both obverses with the palm branch reverse and with the pitcher and palm branch reverse.

To learn more about how we reproduced the coins see Creating Judaic Coins: the Process.

Master Coinsmith

After searching for five years, I finally found Charles Larson, coinsmith, minter, historian, artist. When he heard about our proposed project – to reproduce the ancient Judaean silver coins and mint new Third Temple-worthy coins, he became almost as excited as I was.

Charles (call me Chuck) is a master of many trades and author of the book “Numismatic Forgery” (2004, published by Zyrus Press), used as a textbook in courses held by the American Numismatic Association. He learned some of the secrets of ancient coin reproduction while a prison guard for a notorious coin forger, and then developed many of the methods on his own. Living in Utah, his most popular reproductions are of the Mormon gold coinage from the mid 1800’s. He has also made reproductions of the gold Daric, a Persian coin mentioned in the Bible (I Chonicles 29:7, they are referred to as Adarchonim) and its silver equivalent, the Siglos.

Making The Design

We decided that the first coin to be struck would be the silver half shekel. The originals of these coins were struck in the last five years that the Beith Hamikdash (The Holy Temple) was standing in Jerusalem, approximately the years 65-70. This coin was minted for the Temple Tax (Shemot/Exodus 30:11-16). Even though the Jews were beset and besieged by the Romans, they continued minting this coin to the end. Even though the Temple has been destroyed for over 1,930 years, there is still a custom to give coins to charity on the Feast of Purim as a commemoration of the command to give the Temple Tax. An actual Temple Tax is not collected when the Temple is not standing (Maimonides Shekalim 1:8).

Finding Pristine Originals

Numerous examples of the original coins have been found (they usually sell in the $2,000+ range) and excellent pictures are available. (See Menorah Coin Project).

Since there were several variations in the original coins, we had to decide which variety we wanted to make, which year to show, and then Chuck reduced it all to drawings.

Often the people who design and engrave coin dies are themselves artists. One of the most difficult aspects of making a believable ancient coin reproduction is for the artist/artisan to get rid of his own cultural/artistic style and get totally into the style of the place and period which he is working on. For instance:

Shekel Reproduction Original Shekel

The coin on the left is produced by us. The one on the right is is an original coin. We believe that our master minter has captured the flavor and feel of the original.

Making The Dies

The next step is to transfer the drawings to the dies (which are made out of special steel).

Transferring The Design

Then the design is cut (in reverse or mirror image) onto the dies. Our minter makes all of his own tools. He makes them as similar to the ancient tools as he can. He says that otherwise, you can tell a modern forgery, because the modern tools cut differently and leave different marks than the ancient tools.

The lower die is for the obverse (the front or “heads” side of the coin) Lower Die In Position

and the upper die is for the reverse (back or tails side of the coin). Upper Die

As the minter cuts the dies, he makes test stampings on lead to see how actual coins would look. Die Test Stampings

Blank Coins

Making the dies requires hours of skilled labour, but for an ancient coin reproduction, making the dies is almost the easy part. Making the coin blanks (flans or planchets) for ancient coins takes a huge amount of work. First the metal is cut Cutting_The_Metal and then it is carefully weighed Weighing_The_Metal and then it is heated Heating The Metal and annealed Annealing and hammered into shape. Hammering Into Shape Coin Blanks

Placing the Coin in the Die

The coin blank is then placed on top of the lower die. Coin Blank On Lower Die The circle of beads or dots near the edge of the coin is not so much a design element as it is a guide to place the coin blank in the right place on the lower die.

In ancient times, the upper die had to be held in place by hand, and a heavy hammer blow struck the upper die, pressing the design into the metal. Multiple blows were struck to impress the design deeply. Of course holding the upper die in place in the path of a freely swung sledge hammer could be quite dangerous.

Our minter designed a special device to hold the dies and blanks carefully in place so that he could both minimize danger and also strike multiple blows without the dies and blanks moving (and causing a doubling effect on the coin). Holding Device

Instead of striking with a sledge hammer, he raises a drop hammer (which weighs 32 pounds or 14.5 kilograms) by means of a pulley and allows it to drop down from the second story of the building. He strikes each coin seven times so that the impression will be clear. Drop_Hammer And then we have a new ancient coin “hot off the presses”. Hot off The Presses Handful Of Half Shekels

Legal, but Not Legal Tender

Mr. Larson is in contact with the Secret Service (the branch of the United States Government which deals with counterfeiting) as well as leading numismatic organizations to make sure that the coins are legal and will not be passed off as originals. He puts his initials on the edge of each coin as the mark of pride of a great craftsman and as an indication that the coin is not an original.

To purchase one of these gorgeous reproduction coins go to our Coin Catalog Page.