PHOENICIA, Tyre. 126/5 BC-AD 65/6. AR Shekel (24.5mm, 14.20 g, 12h). Lifetime of Christ issue. Dated CY 159 (AD 33/4). Good VF.

CNG Feature Auction 132
Lot: 518. Estimated: $ 2 000

Greek, 12h, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 13 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

PHOENICIA, Tyre. 126/5 BC-AD 65/6. AR Shekel (24.5mm, 14.20 g, 12h). Lifetime of Christ issue. Dated CY 159 (AD 33/4). Laureate head of Melkart right, [lion skin around neck] / Eagle standing left on prow; palm frond in background; to left, PNΘ (date) above club; to right, KP above monogram; Phoenician A between legs. DCA-Tyre 577; HGC 10, 357; DCA2 947. Toned, eye and ear chisel cut in antiquity. Good VF. Well centered.

Purchased by the consignor from Zuzim, 23 May 2012. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 70 (21 September 2005), lot 396; Classical Numismatic Group 64 (24 September 2003), lot 410.

According to the traditional chronology, this coin was struck in the year of Jesus' crucifixion.

Interestingly, the disfigurement of the eyes and ears of Melkart on this shekel may represent an instance of contemporary Jewish iconoclasm. It is well established that Tyrian shekels—despite bearing the portrait of the god Melkart—were used to pay the Jerusalem Temple tax because of their reliably high silver purity. This naturally raises the question: why would Jews pay the tax for their most sacred institution with coinage depicting a pagan deity? David Hendin, in his Guide to Biblical Coins, Sixth Edition, p. 438, notes that, according to Jewish law, the only legally significant aspects of a coin were its value and purity, not its imagery. This interpretation would have allowed the use of Tyrian shekels despite their graven portrait. However, while this may have been a valid halakhic position, there is no reason to assume it was universally accepted among all Jews. A passage in the Jerusalem Talmud (Moed Katan 3:7) recounts a conversation between two sages in which it is stated that when one passes by an idol, they should “blind” it. Although this is often interpreted metaphorically, the possibility remains that some individuals took such injunctions literally and felt compelled to deface images they regarded as idolatrous. With that in mind, it is plausible that this coin passed through the hands of someone who objected strongly to the use of coins with pagan imagery—especially for paying the Temple tax—and therefore deliberately mutilated the portrait. If so, there is reason to believe that the coin may have been brought to Jerusalem by a Passover pilgrim and defaced before being exchanged for the tax. Given that this is a “crucifixion‑year” shekel, it is entirely possible that the coin was in Jerusalem—and perhaps even present at the Temple—during the period when Jesus confronted the money changers shortly before his crucifixion.

The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 132 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 18-19 May 2026.

CNG Feature Auction 132 – Session Two – Lot 319-587 will be held Monday afternoon, 18 May 2026 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.