Donald T. Ariel

The Location of the Mint or Mints

What is the importance of establishing the location of a mint? In the Roman world these were “not grand structures with dedicated functions” (Burnett 2001:45). Minting was a simple activity, and could be set up to take place almost anywhere. The institution of “the mint” becomes even more difficult to envisage when we realize that Herod did not mint coins regularly (section 1.4 above). Nevertheless, identifying the mint of a coinage has traditionally been a pursuit of numismatists, as it is generally assumed that a ruler’s choice of mint locations reflected somewhat the importance or economic centrality of the various cities under his control. No doubt the subject of mint location is more significant when the alternatives are distant from each other. It had universally been accepted that Herod’s mint was located, in continuity with the Hasmonean mint, in Jerusalem. However, since 1936 when Narkiss suggested Trachonitis1 as the mint of the year three (Ò G) coin series (Narkiss 1936:33– 34), that group’s mint location has been the subject of much speculation. This chapter analyzes the earlier opinions on the topic and offers at least an operative solution. Before looking at the proposed alternatives for the mint’s location, one may consider the possibility that these coins were not struck in one place at all, but rather derived from a traveling mint. In the Roman sphere, traveling mints (for silver) were a natural development of Roman republican coinage policy (Sutherland 1951:10). Harl determined that traveling mints were first created by the Sullans (the 80s bce; Harl 1996:53). One of the datings for the Ò G coins would seriously support such an idea. In year three of the most commonly accepted 40 bce regnal era (i.e., 38/37 bce) Herod had not yet

The Coins of Herod

A comprehensive reappraisal of Herod the Great’s coinage is undertaken. Hoard and archaeological evidence, together with iconographic, epigraphic and numismatic observations, contribute to innovative interpretations of the coins, a new relative chronology, and some historical ‘pegs’ towards an absolute chronology