The New York Sale
Auction 48 14 Jan 2020
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Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Sela (14.30 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. Reverse: 'For the freedom of Jerusalem' (Paleo-Hebrew), lulav with etrog at left. Hendin 1413a; TJC 269; Mildenberg - (O17/R71'; unlisted die combination); Extremely Rare - the die combination not recorded in Mildenberg. Now published in Kaufman's Additions to Leo Mildenberg's Corpus of The Coinage of the Bar Kokhba War, Israel Numismatic Journal, Vol. 14 2000-2002 #8 (O17/R71). Lustrous, lightly toned. Mint State. Value $8,000 - UP
Instead of the + symbol that appeared above the Temple façade in the second year (133/4 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War and on some of the undated sela'im of the third year, this sela features a wavy line instead. The precise meaning of this new design element is not certain. If the + symbol was intended as the star of Bar Kokhba's name, does its replacement with a wavy line mean that the rebels had begun to give up on his messianic quality, or does it simply represent either the roof of the temple or the golden vine that adorned it during the time of Herod?
Instead of the + symbol that appeared above the Temple façade in the second year (133/4 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War and on some of the undated sela'im of the third year, this sela features a wavy line instead. The precise meaning of this new design element is not certain. If the + symbol was intended as the star of Bar Kokhba's name, does its replacement with a wavy line mean that the rebels had begun to give up on his messianic quality, or does it simply represent either the roof of the temple or the golden vine that adorned it during the time of Herod?