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Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Æ Medium Bronze (14.97 g), 132-135 CE. Year 1 (132/3 CE). ‘Simon,
Prince of Israel’ (Paleo-Hebrew), palm branch within wreath. Rev. ‘Year one of the redemption of Israel’
(Paleo-Hebrew), wide lyre with five strings. (Mildenberg 25 (O1/R6); TJC 223; Hendin 1377). Green
patina. Extremely fine.
$ 1,250
ex Jascha Heifetz Collection, pt. 2 (Superior, 9-10 December 1989), lot 2836.
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Judaea, Bar Kokhba Revolt. Æ Medium Bronze (17.23g), 132-135 CE. Year 1 (132/3 CE). ‘Simon, Prince
of Israel’ (Paleo-Hebrew), seven-branched palm tree with two bunches of dates. Rev. ‘Year one of the re-
demption of Israel’ (Paleo-Hebrew), vine leaf on tendril. (Mildenberg 34a (O1/R6; this coin); TJC 222;
Hendin 1378). This coin illustrated in Mildenberg and cited as one of the five best examples out of around
fifty known. Brown patina with green encrustations. Extremely fine.
$ 1,000
ex Abraham Bromberg Collection, Part I (Superior, 5 December 1991), lot 240;
ex NFA III (27 March 1976), lot 119;
ex Glendining’s (5 March 1970), lot 174.
The vine leaf reverse of this and the following middle bronze denomination of the first year (132/3 CE) of the Bar Kokhba War
may have been inspired by the prutot of the earlier failed Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE) that employed a similar type. In this way the
Bar Kochba War was presented as a continuation of the earlier fight and lent it legitimacy in historical terms. The palm tree was a
symbol of Judaea going back at least to the time of the Jewish Revolt since it regularly appears on Roman coins in conjunction with
Jewish captives under Vespasian and his successors. The seven branches consciously recall the seven arms of the menorah, perhaps
the Jewish symbol par excellence. The palm tree was also prominent on coins of the Galilean city of Sepphoris, which became an
important center of rabinnic Judaism after the Bar Kokhba War.