Ex Shoshana Year 1/2 Hybrid – The Finest Known

Triton XVIII, Lot: 744. Estimate $60000. Sold for $90000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

JUDAEA, Bar Kochba Revolt. 132-135 CE. AR Sela – Tetradrachm (26mm, 14.65 g, 1h). 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, “Y(ear) 2 of the Freedom of Israel” (in Hebrew) around. Mildenberg 8 (O1/R7); Meshorer 229 (same obv. die as illustration); Hendin 1385 (same obv. die as illustration); Bromberg 80 (same obv. die); Shoshana I 20255 = C. Samuels, P. Rynearson, & Y. Meshorer, The Numismatic Legacy of the Jews as Depicted by A Distinguished American Collection (New York, 2000), 105 (this coin); Sofaer 29 (same obv. die); Spaer 188 (same dies); SNG ANS 517 (same dies). Superb EF, underlying luster, a touch of die wear on obverse. Sharply struck on a broad flan. Very rare year 1/2 hybrid, the finest known.

Ex Shoshana Collection (Part I, Heritage, 8 March 2012), lot 20255.

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.