Lot 1602
Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Sela (14.49 g), 132-135 CE. Undated, attributed to year 3 (134/5 CE). 'Simon' (Paleo-Hebrew), tetrastyle façade of the Temple of Jerusalem; show bread table or Ark of the Covenant in chest form with semicircular lid and short legs, seen from a narrow side; above façade, star. Reverse: 'For the freedom of Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew), lulav with etrog at left. Hendin 1411; Mildenberg 59 (O13/R45); TJC 267. Nice old cabinet tone. Choice Very Fine. Estimate Value $3,500 - 4,500
The Brody Family Collection; Ex NFA XXVI (14 August 1991), 172.
These undated sela'im were struck in the third and final year (134/5 CE) of the Bar Kokhba war. The types of the Temple and the lulav and etrog are continued, but the coins are no longer dated "year 1" or "year 2 of the redemption of Israel," and instead the slogan "for the freedom of Jerusalem" is used on the reverse. The name of the holy city of Jerusalem no longer appears around the Temple (perhaps suggesting it was now out of reach) and is replaced by Bar Kokhba's first name, Simon. The messianic vision was being shattered, and the coins convey this message in their own cryptic way.
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| Realized $6,169 |
