During the revolt, large quantities of coins were issued in silver and copper with rebellious inscriptions, all being overstruck over foreign (mostly
Roman) coins, when a file was used to remove the designs of the original coins, such as the portrait of the
Roman Emperor. The undercoin can clearly be seen on some of the silver coins because they were not filed down so as not to lose the value of the silver. On the bronze coins it is very difficult to see the underlying coin because they were filed down before they were over-struck. In rare instances, the coin cracked when it was overstruck.[1][unreliable source?]
The name "Shim'on" (likely referring to the leader of the Revolt,
Shim'on (Simon) Bar Koseba) appears on all of the coins of the Bar Kokhba Revolt except for a few types issued at the beginning of the revolt with the name "Eleazar the Priest (
Cohen),". The overstruck silver
shekel/tetradrachms (see illustration) are among the most religiously significant coins issued by the ancient Jews, because the
Holy of Holies of the
Jerusalem Temple is shown, with the
Ark of the Covenant. The word "
Jerusalem" was inscribed around the representation of the Temple. Beginning in the second year of issue and continuing into the final year, a star appeared above the Temple on many coins, probably in reference to Bar Kokhba's nickname "Son of the Star". Agricultural symbols connected with the
Jewishharvest festival of
Sukkot, such as
lulav and
etrog, appear on the reverse of some of the smaller bronze coins, surrounded by a Hebrew inscription: 'Year One of the Redemption of Israel', 'Year Two of the Freedom of Israel', or 'For the Freedom of Jerusalem'.[1]
In May 2020, a coin embossed with grapes and 'Year Two of the Freedom of Israel' was found in the William Davidson Archaeological Park next to the
Western Wall in Jerusalem. This was only the fourth coin from this period to be found in the area, and the only Bar Kokhba coin to have Jerusalem's name on it.[2]
Alternative attributions
The first group of these coins reviewed by
numismatists were 10 silver pieces and one bronze piece found in the mid-nineteenth century.[3] By 1881 the number of coins had grown to 43,[3] and many more have been found since.[4] These coins were first attributed to Bar Kokhba by
Moritz Abraham Levy in 1862 and
Frederic Madden in 1864.[3]
Since the mid-nineteenth century, a number of scholars have provided alternative attributions for the coins.
Claude Reignier Conder, writing in 1909, suggested that the coins were forgeries of the coins of
Simon Thassi.[5] Wolf Wirgin, writing in 1959, suggested that the coins were instead minted by King
Herod Agrippa[6] Alice Muehsam, writing in 1966, suggested that those coins with dates such as "Year 1" were actually
First Jewish Revolt coinage.[7]
Outside Judaea
As of 2023, twenty-four coins of the Bar Kokhba revolt were found outside Judaea, in various locations in the UK, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Croatia. The majority of coins were found around Roman military sites in the provinces of
Britannia,
Pannonia,
Dacia and
Dalmatia, including several legionary and auxiliary camps, though not always in a strictly military context.[8][9][10] In 2010,
Eshel,
Zissu, and
Barkay proposed tying these coins to Roman soldiers stationed in those camps who were active in quelling the Bar Kokhba revolt and took those coins with them as souvenirs or commemorative relics.[8] In a 2023 article, Brull proposed that some of the coins may have been brought to the Europe by Jewish captives or immigrants who arrived in those areas of the revolt.[9]
^
abcHistory of Jewish coinage, and of money in the Old and New Testament, Frederic William Madden, Pegasus Pub. Co., 1967, Introduction, "Madden's chapter IX, "Money Struck during the Second Revolt of the Jews," lists only those coins of "Simon Bar Cochab" which were overstruck on coins of the Roman emperors from Vespasian onwards, and which could not therefore fit in any way into Madden's scheme of the "
Simon" or "
Eleazar" coins allegedly of the
First Revolt. He notes, of course, that some of the coins of Bar Cochab "appear to have been struck from the same stamp as those of
Simon son of Gioras." His attribution of these coins to Bar Kochba follows that of Levy. The original group attributed to Bar Kochba numbered 10 silver pieces and one bronze piece in Madden's book of 1864; in 1881 they had grown to 43, including the tetradrachm with the star."