There is something rather interesting about some of the coins of Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai). You see some of his coins are made out of lead instead of bronze.  The theory at the moment is that these coins were issued as “tokens” to be given to the poor so that they could buy food and other necessary items.  It may have been his way to win over the support of the general population.

When these type coins were first found they were thought to only have an image on one side. But as more were discovered it was clear that images and/or inscriptions were to be found on both sides.  Because they were made out of lead they do not hold their images/inscriptions well over time and all the ones I have seen are always in very poor condition. The most general style found at the moment is the anchor/inscription design similar to the coin shown on my last post. There are also some very rare varieties and I will show an example in my next post.

Ruler: Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai )

Date: 103-76 BC

Denomination: Prutah (lead) (tesserae)

Obverse: Anchor

Reverse: Inscription

Reference: Hendin 476