at Gamla which is the largest amount to date. Majority of them come from his actual reign, while a small amount of these coins were minted after. The numismatic evidence does not indicate Aristobulus assumed the title of king. There was also the possibility the coins could be attributed to Aristobulus II (67 – 63 BCE) who was also king and high priest, however, the longstanding debate began to favor more towards Aristobulus I when new numismatic evidence indicated that Aristobulus I had his coins minted with the name "Judah". Because of his short reign of one year, only a small amount of coins are available that actually have the name "Judah". Ya'akov Meshorer categorized them into two groups. Twenty coins are inscribed with "Jehudah high priest and the assembly of the Jews" (), and another seven with the inscriptions of "Jehudah the high priest and the assembly of the Jews" (). Every coin has a value of one prutah and has the inscriptions in a wreath. On the opposite side, a cornucopia with pomegranates between them. The inscriptions on his coins are almost identical to that of the coins of his father and his brother Alexander Jannaeus. Doubts of Josephus's statement that Aristobulus being the first Hasmonean monarch is indicated by his coins which do not contain the title of "king". Josephus's statement also conflicts with Starbo who states Alexander Jannaeus was the first king instead of the high priesthood, however, no Hasmonean relinquished the high priesthood in favor for the kingship. According to Kenneth Atkinson, Alexander Jannaeus received opposition for having the kingship title minted onto his coins. Alexander had many of those coins over-struck to replace the kingship title for the high priesthood. Atkinson considers the over-struck coins as evidence that the title of "king" was still problematic during Alexander's reign, which Atkinson concluded that “the absence of any royal designation of Aristobulus's coins does not indicate that he was never an actual monarch.” Citations Bibliography 2nd-century BC births 103 BC deaths 2nd-century BC Hasmonean monarchs 2nd-century BCE High Priests of Israel