Sela - Simeon bar Kosevah Year Two

Struck in Year Two of the revolt against Rome — roughly 133–134 CE — this sela belongs to the administration of Simon bar Kosevah, whom Rabbi Akiva famously proclaimed the messianic "Son of a Star." The coins of this revolt were not minted from fresh bullion; the rebels overstruck existing Roman provincial silver, primarily Trajanic and Hadrianic tetradrachms from the Antioch and Tyre mints, a logistical necessity given that no Jewish mint had operated for decades.

Traces of the host coin occasionally bleed through the new dies, making individual specimens useful data points for tracking which Roman issues were circulating in Judaea at the time of the revolt's outbreak.