Really Old Weird Coin With Broom On It

to the community

Sorry to tell you this is not a real coin, but a copy of an ancient Jewish coin.

I was under the impression they were stylized pomegranates on the Jewish coins.

The fruits on First Revolt shekels are indeed stylized pomegranates, but this is not a copy of a First Revolt shekel as linked to by Amwyll; this is a copy of a Second Revolt sela, or tetradrachm. The thread linked to above by philadelphian contains a link to a pic of a genuine ancient silver sela on Wildwinds. The description page for this same coin describers the reverse objects as a "lulav with etrog". Both are terms used to describe plants used by the Jews, both back then and still today, with the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). The lulav is a palm branch; the etrog is a citron fruit.

If you do a forum search for "second revolt sela" you'll find several threads with coins much like this one. I don't know who made them or why; they do not look like the typical "tourist fakes" you'd buy on the street markets of the Middle East. They may have been some kind of Reader's Digest or Time Life Books promotional gimmick.