Jud-Hyrcanus I Jewish Coinage, Judea, Seleucid Kings Of Syria, John Hyracnus Sometimes With Antiochos Vii (128-129 Bce), First Jewish Bronze Coin Struck In Jerusalem, Prutah(C)

John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE) was a Hasmonean (Maccabeean) leader and Jewish High Priest. In 132 BCE, Jerusalem was besieged by the Seleucid king Antiochus VII, in a challenge to the independence of the Jewish state. Unable to break the siege and mindful of the suffering of his people, Hyrcanus negotiated a truce with the Greeks, accepting them as overlords. This coinage, the first Jewish bronze coin to be struck in Jerusalem, dates to that period and is a result of that agreement.