JUDAEA, Bar Kokhba War. 132-136 CE. Zuz = Denarius (Silver, 20 mm, 3.27 g, 7 h), regular coinage. Uncertain mint. Undated, but attributed to Year 3 = 134/5 CE. 𐤔𐤌𐤏𐤅𐤍 (‘Šimʿon’ in Paleo-Hebrew) Grape bunch on vine. Rev. 𐤋𐤇𐤓𐤅𐤕 𐤉𐤓𐤅𐤔𐤋𐤌 ('For the Freedom of Jerusalem' in Paleo-Hebrew) Three-stringed kithara-lyre. Bromberg II 521 (same dies). Hendin 6462 (same obverse die). Meshorer, AJC, 57a (same obverse die). Mildenberg 178 (O22/R112). Samel 2483-2485 (same obverse die). Shoshana I 20473 (same dies). Sofaer 127 (same obverse die). A very rare die combination, with just five examples recorded by Mildenberg, and highly unusual as a double overstrike. Traces of overstriking and with light doubling on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine.



The most astonishing feature of this coin is not that it was struck over an Arabian drachm of Trajan, whose obverse legend can still be faintly discerned around the circumference, though no longer read, and whose date remains weakly visible on the reverse at 2-3 o’clock as [...] ЄΞ Iς[...] (= RPC III 4072, dated to 112 CE). Far more surprising is the clearly visible 𐤏 (ʿAyin) in the center of the grape cluster. The only plausible explanation is that the coin was overstruck twice: first with one of the obverse dies bearing the erroneous 𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤏𐤅 (Šimna (sic!) in Paleo-Hebrew; cf. lots 293-308), and then a second time with the die pair now visible, O22/R112.

Why this was done remains unclear. Perhaps the first strike was so poor that the coin was withdrawn and restruck, this time with a different type. Alternatively, it may provide evidence for the simultaneous use of different obverse dies, which were alternated in rapid succession, with the present coin accidentally struck twice. This phenomenon is well attested on Roman coins – the so-called Kraay effect – but only for reverse dies.