A.D. 37–44 Judea Bronze Prutah Herod Agrippa I Under Claudius NGC F

Judea’s Last Jewish King

“On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

—Acts of the Apostles 12:21-23.

This is an authentic Judean coin from the reign of the last Jewish King of Judea, Herod Agrippa I, whose gruesome death is recounted in vivid detail in the Acts of the Apostles from the Holy Bible. The “official” cause of death for Herod Agrippa I is poisoning, but according to Acts of the Apostles 12:21-23, he was struck down by God who sent angels to punish him because he denied God. This all occurred amidst the famous story in which Herod had arrested many Christians including James, the brother of John, and Peter. After he saw that execution of James was met with approval among the Jews, he announced he would hold a public trial for Peter after the Passover. In what was sure to be a “we’re-gonna-hang-him-after-we give-him-a-fair-trial” affair, Peter’s life was hanging in the balance before an angel of the Lord freed Peter from his chains and led him out of the city.

Minted Under The Authority Of Rome

It should be noted that this Bronze Prutah coin was minted under the authority of Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius—a man befriended by Herod as he made connections both in Rome and Judea as he weaved his way through the violent reign of his grandfather, Herod the Great, who had most of his family killed and was a willing lackey of the Roman Empire’s occupation of Judea. Despite his father being condemned by the older Herod, Herod Agrippa was sent to the imperial court of Rome where he made friends with Claudius, himself a survivor of a systematic Familicide at the hands of Tiberius and Caligula, who did not perceive him as a serious threat due to his lameness. Herod Agrippa turned out to be Claudius’s last and most trustworthy friend, even going so far as to advise him to trust no one, not even him! He also was a leading voice for Claudius being proclaimed the new emperor. As a reward to his boyhood friend, Claudius made sure that Herod returned to Jerusalem as the king of Judea.

Herod’s reign from A.D. 41–44 did not last long, though it did inspire Jewish dreams that they could regain their sovereignty—dreams that were utterly crushed during the Jewish Revolt that saw the fall of Jerusalem and the Second Temple to the Roman empire less than 30 years later. His son, Herod Agrippa II, reigned over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client and later fled Jerusalem in 66, fearing the Jewish uprising and supported Rome during the Jewish–Roman War.

Attributed And Authenticated By The Numismatic Guaranty Company

This historic ancient coin has been attributed and authenticated by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) as being in Fine (F) condition, a very respectable grade given that the coin is nearly 2,000 years-old and even after all that time still features letters and digits that are sharp despite a softness in its recessed areas. The designs are simple yet distinct—an umbrella-like canopy with leaves and three ears of barley and leaves. Ripped from the pages of the Holy Bible, add this coin to your collection today!