Apostolic · AD 30 – AD 100 · coin · Judea

The Porcius Festus Prutah

A bronze coin struck under the Roman procurator before whom Paul appealed to Caesar, corroborating the Acts 25 narrative

The Porcius Festus Prutah
Photo: The government of the Roman Empire. / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) · source

Prutot (small bronze coins) bearing the name of Porcius Festus were struck in Judea during the single year AD 58/59 (regnal year 5 of Nero, corresponding to the Jewish year 5819), making them among the most precisely datable coins of the entire procuratorial series. Specimens have been recovered from excavations throughout Judea and Jerusalem, and significant holdings are maintained in the Israel Museum's numismatic collection in Jerusalem, the British Museum's Department of Coins and Medals, and the Kadman Numismatic Pavilion at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. The coins were identified and catalogued in detail by Ya'akov Meshorer, whose corpus of Jewish and Roman provincial coinage remains the standard scholarly reference. The prutah is a small bronze issue, typically measuring 15–17 mm in diameter and weighing approximately 2–3 grams. The obverse carries a palm branch with the Greek legend KAICAPOC (of Caesar), while the reverse displays a Greek shield surrounded by the inscription NЄPWNOC and the date LЄ (year 5). No image of the procurator appears; the coin asserts imperial authority rather than personal portraiture. The type is catalogued as Meshorer Type 22 in his *A Treasury of Jewish Coins*. The coin's date range corresponds directly to the period in Acts 25 when Festus arrived in Judea, received Paul from custody, and heard the apostle's appeal to the emperor. For New Testament scholarship, the Festus prutah anchors one of the most debated absolute dates in Pauline chronology. Because the coin establishes that Festus assumed office no later than AD 59/60, it provides a fixed terminus for working backward through the chronology of Paul's Caesarean imprisonment and missionary journeys. It also confirms the historical reality of Festus as a functioning Roman administrator in Judea, corroborating the political and judicial framework described in Acts 24–26. **Sources:** Ya'akov Meshorer, *A Treasury of Jewish Coins* (Yad Ben-Zvi Press and Amphora Books, 2001); Frederic W. Madden, *History of Jewish Coinage* (Bernard Quaritch, 1864); F.F. Bruce, *The Book of the Acts*, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1988); Acts 25:1-12.

Why this matters

The Festus prutah provides direct numismatic attestation of the procuratorship of Porcius Festus, the Roman official whose judicial authority over Paul in Acts 25 and whose precise tenure in office has long been a linchpin of Pauline chronology.

Scripture references
Acts 25:1-12Acts 24:27Acts 26:32
Location
Israel Museum, Jerusalem (numismatic collection); British Museum, London (Department of Coins and Medals, Roman Provincial series)