★ An exceptionally well preserved large Bar Kokhba bronze ★

JUDAEA, Bar Kokhba Revolt. 132-135 CE. AE (Bronze, 34 mm, 26.50 g, 12 h), Year 2 = 133/4 CE. 'Jerusalem' (in Hebrew) within olive wreath with medallion above and ties below. Rev. 'Y[ear] 2 of the freedom of Israel' (in Hebrew) Amphora. Bromberg 231 ( same dies ). Hendin 6432. Meshorer 255a ( same dies ). Mildenberg 18 (O5/R12). Shoshana I 2030 ( same dies ). Sofaer 60 ( same dies ). Spaer 237 ( same dies ). An exceptionally well preserved example with a boldly struck amphora. Minor smoothing and with spots of corrosion, otherwise, good very fine.

The large bronze coins of Simon Bar Kokhba impress both with their relative rarity and their size, effectively constituting Jewish sestertii. They were minted in Year 1 and Year 2 of the revolt, with the latter being attested in various variants - the wreaths differ, and the obverse legend changes from 'Jerusalem', as on our example, to 'Simon' on Mildenberg 19. Mildenberg also emphasizes that of the only twelve known reverse dies, 'the last...' , which is the one on our coin, '... is the best by far, perhaps the most beautiful design in the entire Bar Kokhba coinage' (Mildenberg p. 47).