JUDAEA. Neapolis. Macrinus, 217-218. Tetradrachm (Billon, 23 mm, 12.33 g, 12 h). ΑΥ Κ Μ ΟΠ [ϹΕ ΜΑΚΡΙΝΟϹ ϹΕ] Laureate head of Macrinus to right, slight drapery on his left shoulder. Rev. ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ [ΥΠΑΤΟϹ] Π Π Mount Gerizim surmounted by temple and altar to right, colonnade at base, within wreath above eagle standing facing, head and tail left, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak. Prieur 1711. RPC V.3 online 79274. Very rare and of great historical interest. Light porosity, otherwise, good fine.


Mount Gerizim lies in the eastern region of Israel near the ancient biblical city of Shechem. At its summit stood a temple throughout Classical antiquity, most likely the one depicted on the reverse of this extremely rare tetradrachm. Since 1983, excavations have uncovered thousands of pottery sherds, sacrificial animal bones, and inscribed stones bearing the name of the god to whom the sanctuary belonged — the Tetragrammaton (YHWH, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew Bible). On the coin, the temple is rendered with remarkable clarity: an altar stands beside it, and a stairway ascends the slope from a colonnaded enclosure at its base. The entire scene is framed by a wreath supported by the outstretched wings of an eagle below, an arrangement intended to underscore the sanctity of the site — although by this period the sanctuary was probably functioning as an imperial cult temple.