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286
Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Sela (14.60 g), 132-135 CE. Year 2 (133/4 CE). ‘Simon’ (Paleo-He-
brew), 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. Rev. ‘Year two of
the freedom of Israel’ (Paleo-Hebrew), lulav with etrog at left. Hendin 1388; Mildenberg 35 (O8/R25);
TJC 233. Boldly struck and lightly toned. Removed from an NGC slab where graded AU; Strike: 4/5,
Surface: 3/5.
$4,000
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection.
287
Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Silver Sela (14.09 g), 132-135 CE. Year 2 (133/4 CE). ‘Simon’ (Paleo-He-
brew), 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. Rev. ‘Year two of
the freedom of Israel’ (Paleo-Hebrew), lulav with etrog at left. Hendin 1388; Mildenberg 28 (O6/R19);
TJC 233. Portions of the underlying type visible. A choice example. Lightly toned. Removed from an
NGC slab where graded Ch AU; Strike: 4/5, Surface: 4/5.
$4,000
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection.
The sela’im of the second year (133/4 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War depart from the previous issues of the first and second
years in the paleo-Hebrew obverse legend. Here, instead of the usual legend naming Jerusalem, now Simon [bar Kokhba] is
named. It is unclear whether this change indicates that all hope of reclaiming the site of Jerusalem had been given up by the
rebels by this point in the war or whether it merely indicates an increased emphasis on Bar Kokhba’s personal leadership as a
messianic
figure.Itshould be noted that it is unlikely that Bar Kokhba’s soldiers ever occupied Jerusalem. In all of the archaeo-
logical excavations that have been conducted there, tens of thousands of coins have been found, but only three of them were
coins of Bar Kokhba.