A bronze prutah of Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea under Tiberius

Obv.: Simpulum surrounded by Greek inscription [TIBE]PIOY KAICAPOC L Iς (of Tiberius Caesar, year 16). Rev.: Three ears of grain tied together, surrounded by inscription IOYΛIA KAICAPOC (of Julia Caesaris).
29 C.E. 2.09 grams, 16 mm, axis 11. Cf. Ya'akov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins (New York 2001), pl. 74, no. 331
Herod's son who ruled in Jerusalem, Archelaus, was incompetent so the Romans appointed governors, termed procurators.  Most of them, with the exception of Pontius Pilate, respected Jewish religious sensitivities and struck coins with neutral motifs, drawn largely from the seven agricultural species of Israel.