Coins of Pontius Pilate

Coin · AD 29–31 · Time of Jesus · also called Pilate's prutot, Pilate prutah

Date: AD 29–31 (the three issues (years 16–18 of Tiberius))
Found: Struck at Jerusalem (a coin type known from many examples). Three issues are known, dated to years 16, 17 and 18 of the emperor Tiberius (AD 29, 30 and 31).
Now: British Museum (example shown), London
Passages: Luke 3:1, Luke 13:1, Matthew 27:2

What it is

Small bronze coins (prutot) struck in Jerusalem while Pontius Pilate governed Judaea. They show no portrait. The Greek legends name the emperor Tiberius, and on the first issue his mother Julia (Livia), with the year. The first issue pairs a libation ladle (simpulum) with three ears of grain; the later two pair an augur's curved staff (lituus) with the date inside a wreath.

How it connects to the Bible

These were the everyday small change of Judaea in the years when, according to the Gospels, Pilate governed and Jesus taught; Luke places the start of John's ministry when “Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea”. Their Roman religious symbols set them apart from the coins of the other governors, which used plants such as palm trees and ears of grain.

What scholars debate

Whether Pilate meant these symbols to offend his Jewish subjects is debated; some historians point out that he still left the emperor's portrait off them.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-21. All archaeological finds