Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 967. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2006.  Sold For $800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Persian Period. Hezekiah. Circa 375-333 BCE. AR Hemiobol (0.22 g, 8h). Facing young male head / Owl standing right, head facing; ‘HPHH’ in Aramaic to left, ‘YHZQYH’ on right. Meshorer 22a; Hendin 430 var. (legends in opposite positions). EF, dark find patina. Very rare.

There are two varieties of coins of Hezekiah, one giving his title of Satrap. It is likely this is the same Hezekiah who as High Priest of the Jews offered friendship to Ptolemy I of Egypt after his conquest of Palestine. Josephus mentions Hezekiah as being sixty years old at the time of Ptolemy, so it is possible that he served as both a Persian satrap and, later, as a subordinate to Ptolemy.