Hasmonean Coins: Update and Observations

Abstract

In 1991, Ya‘akov Meshorer withdrew his 1967 theory that Alexander Jannaeus struck the first
Hasmonean coins. Recently a scholar has attempted to resurrect the theory. This article argues
that this attempt does not pass muster based on current evidence from archaeology, numismatics
and the physical sciences. Various historical theories of Hasmonean chronology are examined
and placed into the context of present knowledge, concluding firmly that the first Hasmonean
ruler to mint coins was John Hyrcanus I.