Bar Kokhba's rebels struck this silver zuz directly over a Roman coin, erasing the emperor's portrait to declare Judaea free. The revolt against Hadrian ran from AD 132 to 135, and this piece is dated to Year 2, AD 133/4, when the rebel state still controlled much of the province. Rome crushed the uprising and scattered its survivors, so the coinage of those few years is all that remains of the last Jewish kingdom in antiquity. Every zuz was overstruck on captured imperial or provincial silver, which makes each one a small act of defiance in metal.

The obverse centers on a bunch of grapes hanging from a vine with leaf and tendril, framed by the Hebrew legend naming Shim'on, the rebel leader. Grapes stood for the fertility of the land and for Jerusalem itself, and the bunch here shows bold, well-rounded fruit. On the reverse an upright palm branch rises through the field, surrounded by the Hebrew inscription for Year Two of the Freedom of Israel. Traces of the underlying host coin remain visible in the outer fields, a normal and often prized feature of the series.

NGC graded this zuz Choice About Uncirculated with a Strike of 4/5 and a Surface of 3/5, noting the surfaces as brushed and the flan as overstruck. The silver is bright and problem free, with sharp relief on the grapes and crisp definition along the palm ribs and the Hebrew letters. Circulated Bar Kokhba silver is far more common than material at this level, so a Choice About Uncirculated zuz with legends this legible sits near the top of what the type offers. For those seeking a well-struck example of the Bar Kokhba coinage, this coin delivers. The coin pictured is the exact coin you will receive.

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