Lot 1693
Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Zuz (3.39 g), 132-135 CE. Undated, attributed to year 3 (134/5 CE). 'Simon' (Paleo-Hebrew), bunch of grapes with leaf and tendril. Reverse: 'For the freedom of Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew), elongated lyre with three strings. Hendin 6462; Mildenberg 186 (O22/R120); TJC 274. Lovely old cabinet tone. Partial legends of host coin visible. Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $1,000 - UP
The grape bunch and kinnor type combination of this zuz continues types first introduced for the silver denomination in the second year (133/4 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War. Although the specimen here is complete, some examples appear to have been cut in antiquity. Some commentators have considered the cutting to have been a means of invalidating the coins after the disastrous conclusion of the war while others have suggested that they simply represent an expedient for making change.Problematic for the invalidation theory is the fact that so few cut coins are known, but at the same time cut fractional coinage is also a great rarity in the ancient world once coin-usage became firmly established.
The Dr. E. Elovic Collection; Ex Archaeological Center, R. Deutsch 57 (14 October 2014), 65.
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| Realized $1,080 |
