A silver denarius (‘Zuz’), Bar Kokhba Revolt. Obv.: Paleo-Hebrew inscription
(Shimon) in wreath. The letters Ayin (
), Vav (
) and Nun (
) were changed. Rev: Lyre with three strings surrounded by the inscription (for the freedom of Jerusalem). 132/5 CE. 3.71 grams, 19¼ mm, axis 12. Cf. Ya’akov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins (New York 2001), pl. 69, no. 272 The Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE) used similar symbols and inscriptions to the First Revolt. It broke out some seventy years after the destruction of the Second Temple and fifteen years after a Jewish revolt in the diaspora. The tragic consequences of the Revolt led to a pun on the name Bar Kokhba, Bar Cosiba, “son of the lie”. Bar-Kokhba coins were struck on Roman coins.