The New York Sale
Auction 42 9 Jan 2018
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Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Zuz (3.10 g), 132-135 CE. Undated, attributed to year 3 (134/5 CE). 'Simon' (Paleo-Hebrew), bunch of grapes with leaf and tendril. rev. 'For the freedom of Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew), elongated lyre with three strings. Hendin 1435; Mildenberg 182 (O22/R116); TJC 274. Overtsruck on a denarius of Trajan. Removed from an NGC slab where graded AU; Strike: 3/5, Surface: 4/5. Estimated Value $600
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection.
The grape bunch and kinnor combination of this undated zuz continue types first introduced for the silver denomination in the second year of the Bar Kokhba War. Although this specimen 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.
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection.
The grape bunch and kinnor combination of this undated zuz continue types first introduced for the silver denomination in the second year of the Bar Kokhba War. Although this specimen 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.