JUDAEA, Bar Kokhba War. 132-136 CE. Zuz = Denarius (Silver, 20 mm, 3.50 g, 1 h), regular coinage. Uncertain mint. Undated, but attributed to Year 3 = 134/5 CE. 𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤏𐤅 ('Šimna' (sic!) in Paleo-Hebrew) within a wreath composed of branches and eight almonds, tied with a medallion at the top and tendrils at the bottom. Rev. 𐤋𐤇𐤓𐤅𐤕 𐤉𐤓𐤅𐤔𐤋𐤌 ('For the Freedom of Jerusalem' in Paleo-Hebrew) Three-stringed kithara-lyre. Bromberg II 488 = Mildenberg 99.1 (this coin illustrated, O16/R67). Hendin 6446. Meshorer, AJC, 55a (same obverse die). Samel 2424. Shoshana I 20412 (same dies). Sofaer 125 (same obverse die). An extremely rare die combination, one of just three examples recorded by Mildenberg. Beautifully toned and with an excellent pedigree. Overstruck on a denarius of Trajan. Light die wear and with traces of overstriking, otherwise, about extremely fine.



This zuz from the collection of Abraham Bromberg shows unusually clear traces of the undertype on the obverse: parts of Trajan’s hair are still visible, together with the inscription [...] TRAIANO AVG GER DAC [...]. The host coin can therefore have been struck no earlier than the First Dacian War of 101-102 CE. On the reverse, by contrast, almost nothing of the undertype remains visible; only faint traces of letters can be discerned at 1-2 o’clock. These most likely represent the [...]O PR[...] of OPTIMO PRINC(IPI), Trajan’s famous honorific title, which began to appear on his coinage in 103 CE.