Pontius Pilate will produce three coins during his time as Procurator. They will be small bronze coins (called prutahs) that would be used to buy everyday items like food and lamp oil.  When minting his coins he made a decision to try and please two groups of people. First he needed to mint a coin that would not upset the local Jewish population. Therefore he chose not put a portrait of the emperor on the coins as would be found in all the other Roman provinces.  Images of living people and animals were offensive to the population and considered a violation of the commandments. Instead he would have images of either ears of barley or a wreath. Both were acceptable images on coins.

However these images were only put on one side of the coin. On the other side he would put an image that spoke of his connection with Rome and Roman religious practices.  Namely he put the image of a Lituus or a Simpulum – both were objects that used during Roman religious ceremonies.

What a delicate balance he sought after and one that previous procurators did not attempt on their coins.  We have no mention of major reactions against such coins though and through evidence from archeological digs we know that they were used over a vast geographic area as well as for many years.  Images of the various styles of coins I am referring will be found in previous posts.