On the Chronology of the Yehud Falcon Coins

Abstract

A falcon appears on the reverse of seven distinct Yehud coins. The coins with the king’s head
obverse belong to the gera denominational system and coins with the lily and incense bowl
belong to the obol system. The first type may therefore be Persian in date, and the others
seem to be Macedonian-Hellenistic in date. A uniface (unstruck obverse) type may also be
Persian, while the ear, shofar and cornucopia types — arguably Jewish symbols like the lily
and incense bowl — may be later. The one cornucopia/falcon Yehud coin appears to be an
unrecorded quarter obol.