ISRAEL 250 PRUTAH 1949

This coin was minted in the modern state of Israel. As with many Israeli coins it depicts imagery and motif adopted from its ancient heritage and historic past. It is a modern extension of ancient Jewish coinage motif.

This 250 prutah coin is of the first type minted for the new Israeli state in 1949 and depicts three stalks of grain on the obverse and a circular wreath on the reverse. The grain symbolized fertility and a bountiful harvest while the wreath may have symbolized leadership, authority and royalty.

Pictured top right is an ancient example if a prutah showing three grain stalks minted around 41 A.D., Under King Herod Agrippa I (the Great) King of the Jews and friend of Rome. The lower right coin was struck some time under Nero and shows the use of the wreath. Its a coin of Marcus Julius Agrippa or King Herod Agrippa II, seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great. It was before this king loyal to the Romans that Paul pleaded his cause at Caesarea Palaestina.

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