Coin Value | Roman Prutah of Pontius Pilate (Replica)

Roman Prutah of Pontius Pilate (Replica)

Date: no date	Mint mark: not apparent	Size: tiny
Description: Inscriptions... TIBEPIOVKAICAPOCL'S IOVAIAKAICAPOC Devices are difficult to describe but...it looks to be some kind of standing object with 7 different levels, the bottom level looks to be a stand of some sort and then the 6th level up comes up to hook above the 7th (like in the game hangman!!!) on the other side the device resembles a person with leaves in their hands and the (persons) head is in the shape of the hands. The torso is boxed shape with a line dividing the middle and then there is 3 lines below that!
Composition: gold	Wear: well preserved	Eye appeal: likable
Damage: spot	Errors: not specified	Toning: not specified

[Request 8355 received from Tara, Monday, 01-Aug-2011, answered by Paul]

Tara sent us this picture of her fascinating coin. It is, of course, very unusual for normal people like Tara. We not-quite-normal coin collectors recognize this as a copy of an ancient Roman coin from the rule of Pontius Pilate under Tiberius Ceasar. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea when Jesus Christ lived there. Pilate sentenced Jesus to crucifixion and then, troubled, washed his hands of the matter (Matthew 27:24). Because of this connection with the Bible, coins of Pontius Pilate are especially interesting.

The recognized expert on coins of Pontius Pilate is Jean-Philippe Fontanille of MenorahCoin.com in Montreal. Jean-Philippe has let us use one of his pictures of a genuine Pontius Pilate prutah and you can readily see the difference between the real item (with the black background) and Tara's replica.

A genuine coin like this sells retail in the range of $50 to $250, depending on the state of preservation and several other factors. Tara's replica is a nice conversation piece, but it carries no numismatic (coin collector) value.

The patterns on this coin are called Barley and Simpulum. The barley is recognizable; a simpulum is a type of ladle used in Roman pagan sacrifices.