JUDAEA, Bar Kokhba War. 132-136 CE. Zuz = Denarius (Silver, 20 mm, 2.81 g, 6 h), irregular coinage. Uncertain mint. Undated, but attributed to Year 3 = 134/5 CE. 𐤔𐤌𐤏𐤅𐤍 (?) (‘Šimʿon’ in Paleo-Hebrew) Grape bunch on vine with small leaf to right.
Rev. 𐤋𐤇𐤓𐤅𐤕 𐤉𐤓𐤅𐤔𐤋𐤌 ('For the Freedom of Jerusalem' in Paleo-Hebrew) Broad three-stringed kithara-lyre. Bromberg -. Hendin -. Meshorer, AJC, -. Kaufman, Additions, -. Mildenberg -. Samel -. Shoshana -. Sofaer -. Unpublished and unique, a spectacular and highly interesting coin, beautifully toned and exceptionally well preserved. Overstruck on an Arabian drachm of Trajan. Traces of overstriking
, otherwise, good extremely fine.
Privately acquired from UBS, and previously privately acquired from Steve Rubinger (Antiqua, with original ticket).
This coin is spectacular in more than one respect. Not only is it among the best-preserved zuzim in the Leu Judaica Collection, it also preserves exceptionally extensive remnants of the undertype’s legends. On the obverse we read [...]ЄΞ ΙϚ ΥΠΑΤ [...], i.e. ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ЄΞ ΙϚ ΥΠΑΤ Ϛ (RPC III 4072-4073), while on the reverse almost the entire imperial name [...]PAIAN[...] remains visible.
More significant still is the entirely new reverse die, remarkable for its highly unusual rendering of the kithara-lyre. It is paired here with an obverse die that was itself unknown to Mildenberg, although it is attested with reverses depicting two trumpets in Shoshana I 20449 = Shoshana II 20262 and lot 150383 below, making the present die combination likewise unrecorded. Two principal types of stringed instrument are normally encountered on the zuzim: the broad, squat chelys-lyre with a rounded soundbox, in which the strings are anchored in a separate element mounted on the body (cf. lots 243, 261-263 and 270 above), and the more common elongated kithara-lyre, with a tall soundbox decorated by a central line and with the strings attached directly to the body.
The present coin, however, displays an extraordinary hybrid form. Although clearly derived from the kithara type, its soundbox is not only unusually low but is also decorated with three vertical strokes, giving the impression that the strings pass directly through it. Even within the stylistically heterogeneous group of irregular coinage, this representation stands entirely apart, and no close parallel for it appears to be known. Neither these dies nor this particular rendering of the lyre was known to Leo Mildenberg, and its singular appearance would undoubtedly have astonished him.
The significance of the coin thus lies not merely in its exceptional preservation and unusually extensive traces of the undertype, but above all in the entirely new die combination and the singular rendering of the kithara lyre. We are dealing with an exceptional discovery: a coin that is not only unpublished, but one that combines magnificent preservation, conspicuous traces of overstriking, entirely new dies and a remarkable iconographic variant - bringing together some of the most compelling characteristics of Bar Kokhba coinage in a single piece.
