On Hebrew-Samaritan Coins

As for the golden letters that Mr. Tychsen adds—purportedly the letters א Aleph or even שד Shin Daleth appearing above the chalice—this is a mere invention original Greek: ευρημα (heurēma), a "discovery" or fabrication. I believe that a gold shekel, or one inscribed with those two letters sitting above the chalice, exists nowhere in any place or nation, nor has it ever existed. Let Waser Caspar Waser (1565–1625), a Swiss theologian and numismatist be gone with his dreams.

As to why Simon Simon Maccabaeus, leader of the Jews from 142–135 BCE did not strike coins during the last four years of his reign, which Mr. Tychsen asks about, I would not wish him to exhaust himself with the inquiry. I believe Froëlich Erasmus Froëlich (1700–1758), a Jesuit numismatist has guessed the cause: namely, so that he would not further provoke the alienated mind of the powerful King, and might meanwhile cherish some hope of restoring peace (1). For it is well established that in the year 174 of the Greeks approx. 138 BCE, after Tryphon had been driven to Dora, Antiochus broke all the agreements he had made with Simon shortly before (2).

It is pointless to pursue more points here, and several are treated in their proper places below. In the meantime, however, my mind suggests that Messrs. Tychsen and Schloëger (3) Director of the Gotha Coin Cabinet would deal more generously with Samaritan coins if it were permitted for them to inspect more closely and examine with learned eyes the thirty-two original specimens which I possess and am looking at right now. For my part—having more than once been made a laughingstock by those crafty "purse-cleaners" swindlers or forgers of ancient coins in this trade, and having become considerably more cautious as a result—every doubt regarding their authenticity has long since been removed. Indeed, I even believe that the coin from which the cast was made (which Mr. Tychsen displays at the front of his work), even if that specific piece is a forgery, is derived from pure and uncorrupted Samaritan sources.

NOW, to provide a brief and true prologue, I first advise the readers that my intention is to deal only with those Samaritan shekels and coins which time has brought to light thus far, and which I have found to exist in the cabinets of the Learned. For I do not doubt that if new Hebrew coins are brought to light daily, the Learned may perhaps draw new theses from them, by which previous assertions and conjectures might either be made clearer or might give way to the truth.

Regarding the letters ט Teth: the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and ת Tav: the twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet—of which I had previously thought the former to be thin un-aspirated and the latter aspirated (6), following the authority of Vossius (4) and even the great Jerome (5)—I am forced to acknowledge my error and change my opinion after a more diligent investigation of the matter. Therefore, Teth, wherever it appears in...

(1) Annals of the Syrian Kings, Prologue, page 83.
(2) 1 Maccabees 15:27. Referring to Antiochus VII Sidetes breaking his treaty with Simon Maccabaeus.
(3) Prefect of the Gotha Coin Cabinet.
(4) On the Art of Grammar, book 1, chapter 27.

(5) In whose writings one frequently finds רמתה as Rámátha; ביתאל as BéThEl; שת as SéTH; and similar examples. Bayer is noting how Jerome’s Latin transliterations suggest specific pronunciations of Hebrew letters.
(6) Dissertation on the Phoenician letters and language.