“Ear of God”

Triton XXII, Lot: 380. Estimate $3000. Sold for $7250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Achaemenid Province (Yehud). Anonymous. Circa 375-332 BCE. AR Gerah – Twenty-fourth Shekel (6mm, 0.38 g). Ear (of God?) / Falcon upward, head right, wings spread; [YHD (in Phoenician) to right]. MCP dies O1/R2; Meshorer 18; Hendin 1061; HGC 10, 440; Bromberg–; Shoshana –; Sofaer –; Spaer –. Good VF, find patina. Very rare.

Lot includes an NGC photo grade certificate, 4282165-002, graded AU, Surface 5/5, Strike 3/5.

In his seminal work, A Treasury of Jewish Coins, Y. Meshorer identified the obverse type as God’s ear (pp. 11–2), stating: “In ancient forms of ritual and prayers to various deities, the notable relationship between man and his god was that between supplicant and listener: the supplicant voices his prayer and entreaties to his god, and the god listens and tries to carry out his wishes. Thus the god’s most important organ was his ear that heard the prayer. Indeed, an appeal to the gods and an appeal to the God of Israel was to be directed to their ears, and there are many examples of this in the Bible, including: ‘Incline Thine ear unto me and hear my speech’ (Ps. 17:6); ‘Incline Thine ear unto me and save me’ (Ps. 71:2), and ‘Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and answer me’ (Ps. 86:1).”