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JUDAEA, Jewish War. 66-70 CE. AR Shekel (23.5mm, 1419 g, 12h). Jerusalem mint. Dated year 1 (66/7 CE). Omer cup; “1” (date, in Hebrew) above, pellets flanking; “Shekel of Israel” (in Hebrew) around / Sprig of three pomegranates; “Jerusalem [the] holy” (in Hebrew) around. Deutsch 8.4 (O3’/R8 – this coin); Kadman 1; Meshorer 184; Hendin 6382; Bromberg 369 (same dies); Shoshana I 20196 (same obv. die); Sofaer 1 (same obv. die); Spaer 162 (same obv. die). Lightly toned, a touch off center. EF.
From the Dr. Jay M. Galst Collection. Ex Antiqua FPL VII (1999), no. 54.
The notorious defector and only surviving Jewish historian of his time, Josephus, writes that “[The Jewish War] was the greatest not only of the wars of our time, but so far as accounts have reached us, well nigh of all that ever broke out between cities or nations.” Twenty thousand Jews massacred in an hour, a Roman army routed by knife-wielding rebel factions, civil wars, multiple emperors, plague, famine, and cities razed to ash — all contributed to a monumental aggregation of death, destruction, and diaspora that would shock much of the ancient world. During the siege of Jerusalem alone, an estimated 1.1 million people would lose their lives, and many more would be forced into slavery or brutally executed en masse after the fall of the city.
The Jewish War was born out of a repudiation of severe Roman taxation by a largely impoverished, politically-unrepresented, and idealistically-fragmented Jewish population. In 66 CE, the procurator Florus demanded 17 talents, or 51,000 shekels, from the Temple of Jerusalem, causing immense outrage and rebellion. After several failed attempts to quell discontent, the Temple priests banned all sacrifices for non-Jews, and a ragtag group of knife-wielding sicarii murdered an entire garrison at Masada. In retaliation, the Roman government organized the execution of twenty thousand Jews in one hour in the city of Caesarea — just one example of many acts of violence made in quick succession. The foundation for a costly and epic eight-year war had been set, which would ultimately push Jewish civilization to the brink of destruction.
Despite the all-encompassing turmoil on both sides and the civil struggle that enveloped the different Jewish factions during the war, the Jewish silver coinage produced up until Jerusalem’s destruction was remarkably consistent and of high quality. David Hendin, one of the leading scholars of Biblical and Ancient Judean coins, remarks that these silver coins were “uniform in weight, purity, shape, and striking” and that the engraving of the dies was the “best in the history of Judaea.” Even aside from excellent production standards upheld during this period, this was a watershed era of autonomy in the history of Jewish coinage as “neither the Selucids nor the Romans had previously allowed the Jews to issue silver coins.” Like the bronze issues of this time (which were struck by a separate and more radical political party), these coins celebrated Jewish independence, giving life to the dream of a Judaea freed from the oppression of foreign conquerors.
The final winners of all Triton XXV lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 11-12 January 2022. Triton XXV – Session Two – Greek Coinage (Part 2) through Roman Provincial Coinage will be held Tuesday afternoon, 11 January 2022 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.
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