Ancient Judean coins token Very rare lead or tessera, Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC), Judea

Star // Blank. 10mm, 0.63 grams. cf. Hendin 6192.

The design is derived from the "widow's mites" leptons. This coin is made the same way Alexander Jannaeus' leptons were made, with flans cut from long wires and probably dates to his reign. It comes from a small hoard of Hasmonean coins and it was obviously used alongside that coinage, even though it must have had a different purpose.

Lead tesserae associated with the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus (104–76 BCE) are extremely scarce ancient lead tokens or vouchers that primarily circulated in the Transjordan region, as per Ya'akov Meshoror who originally researched them. They are usually derived from the design of the "Widow's mite" coins. Numismatists believe these pieces functioned as small change tokens (when official coinage was not available) or charitable vouchers that the poor could redeem for essential commodities like food, grain, or oil. 

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