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Zuz - Simeon bar Kosevah Year Two
| Issuer | Bar Kokhba Revolt |
|---|---|
| Year | 133-134 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | 4 August 0135 |
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| Obverse description | A bunch of grapes with a leaf and tendril occupies the central field, struck over an earlier host coin whose undertype remains partially visible at the flan's edges. The motif is rendered in relief within an irregular beaded border characteristic of Bar Kokhba coinage. The Hebrew inscription שמעון (Simon), referencing the revolt leader Simeon bar Kosevah, appears in the field flanking the grape cluster. The flan is notably irregular, reflecting the emergency nature of the overstruck coinage produced during the revolt. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | שמעון (Translation: Simon) |
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| Additional information |
Struck during the second year of the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome, this zuz belongs to a coinage produced almost entirely by overstruck Roman denarii — the rebels had no mint infrastructure, so captured Roman silver was the raw material. The choice was as much a political act as a practical one, erasing Roman imagery beneath Jewish symbols at a moment when Hadrian's ban on circumcision and plans for a Roman colony on Jerusalem's ruins had pushed Judea into open war.
Bar Kokhba himself — Simon ben Kosevah — administered the revolt with documented bureaucratic precision, as the Dead Sea cache of his actual letters confirms. Year Two issues are generally more available than Year Three, which reflects how the revolt's final collapse in 135 AD disrupted production entirely.