Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers
Auction 98 6-7 Jun 2017
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Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Æ Large Bronze (17.95 g), 132-135 CE. Year 1 (132/3 CE). 'Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew) within wreath. Rev. 'Year one of the redemption of Israel' (Paleo-Hebrew), amphora with two handles. (Mildenberg 12 (O3/R4); TJC 221; Hendin 1375. Very Rare. Pleasing conserved with a light sandy green patina on a perfectly round flan. Very Fine. Estimate Value $7,000 - 8,000
The Brody Family Collection; Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1993.
Like the silver zuz, the large bronze denomination of the first year (132/3 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War also takes its typological cues from earlier Jewish coinage. The wreathed paleo-Hebrew inscription naming Jerusalem, the coinage was almost certainly inspired by the ubiquitous prutot of the Hasmonean high priests and priest-kings. This hearkened back to the lost glory days of the late second and early first centuries BCE when Judaea was a free and powerful state that struck fear into the hearts of its many pagan neighbors, but it may also have been intended to make a direct connection between Simon bar Kokhba and the Hasmonean dynasty for the sake of legitimacy. It is probably no coincidence that both Bar Kokhba and the Hasmonaeans hailed from the town of Modein in the Judaean Shephelah. The amphora reverse is very similar to that found on prutot of the first failed Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE) and serves to connect the Bar Kokhba War to the previous tragic struggle of the Judaean Jews against Rome.
The Brody Family Collection; Purchased privately at the NYINC, December 1993.
Like the silver zuz, the large bronze denomination of the first year (132/3 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War also takes its typological cues from earlier Jewish coinage. The wreathed paleo-Hebrew inscription naming Jerusalem, the coinage was almost certainly inspired by the ubiquitous prutot of the Hasmonean high priests and priest-kings. This hearkened back to the lost glory days of the late second and early first centuries BCE when Judaea was a free and powerful state that struck fear into the hearts of its many pagan neighbors, but it may also have been intended to make a direct connection between Simon bar Kokhba and the Hasmonean dynasty for the sake of legitimacy. It is probably no coincidence that both Bar Kokhba and the Hasmonaeans hailed from the town of Modein in the Judaean Shephelah. The amphora reverse is very similar to that found on prutot of the first failed Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE) and serves to connect the Bar Kokhba War to the previous tragic struggle of the Judaean Jews against Rome.