ANCIENT JEWISH COINS, BAR KOKHBA, Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Sela (14.03 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, wavy line. Rev. 'For the freedom of Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew), lulav with etrog at left. (cf. Mildenberg 92 (O17/R71); TJC 269; Hendin 1413). Well struck and perfectly centered. Underlying luster present and lightly toned. A magnificent example. Superb extremely fine.
ex Leu 72 (12 May 1998), lot 332.
The reverse die used to strike this coin is from a slightly later die-state, showing a die crack in the lower right-hand side which is not on R71 and is not noted in Mildenberg's text, and thus is a variation of Mildenberg 92. The die-crack is evident on AJC 53A.
The wavy line likely represents a golden grapvine over the entrance to the Temple (see introduction to the Bar Kokhba coins).
Estimate: $ 6,000