Year 1/2 Hybrid

CNG 93, Lot: 569. Estimate $15000. Sold for $20000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Bar Kochba Revolt. 132-135 CE. AR Sela – Tetradrachm (27mm, 14.58 g, 12h). Dated year 2 (133/4 CE). Façade of the Temple at Jerusalem; showbread table within, “Jerusalem” in Hebrew around / Bundle of lulav; etrog to left, “Year two of the Freedom of Israel” in Hebrew around. Mildenberg 7 (O1/R6); Meshorer 229 (same obv. die as illustration); Hendin 1385 (same obv. die as illustration); Bromberg 80 = Shoshana 20254 (same dies). EF, toned. Struck on a broad flan. Very rare year 1/2 hybrid, and better than the Bromberg/Shoshana specimen that realized $20,000.

As noted in Hendin, the first selas of year 2 were struck using the same obverse die that had been used on all the year 1 selas, and are thus considered hybrids. Another carryover from the first year is the more broadly formed flan that extends well beyond the edge of the dies.