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Israel, Bar Kochba Medal, 5720-1960
Catalogue information
LastDodo number
4382849
Area
Tokens / Medals
Title
Israel, Bar Kochba Medal, 5720-1960
Publisher
Value
Country
Year
1960
Collection / set
Weight
Variety / overstrike
Obverse
Incuse form of a cave opening & Judean desert background. From the mouth of the cave hangs a rope ladder, with a man hauling up his colleague. Above, an inscription: "The Archaeological Mission to the Judean Desert, the 12th year of Israel's Statehood"
Reverse
Bar Kochba letter bundle found in a cave. Sample coin of the Era, with palm branch & inscription in archaic Hebrew, "Simon Bar Kochba - Ruler of Israel" and, "Bar Kochba Wars 3891-3894" or 132-135 CE
Privy mark
Mint mark
Designer
Engraver
Dimensions / Diameter
59
Number
Details
Grams: 115
Minted: 15,000
Edge: The State emblem and the words "State of Israel" in Hebrew and English.
In the spring of 1960, an archaeological study group from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, accompanied by Israel Defense Force soldiers, worked in the caves of the rocky hills of the Judean desert and there made discoveries beyond imagination. The most important of these was a bundle of papyrus discovered by the section headed by Professor Yigal Yadin, which contained the writings of Bar Kochba, leader of the revolt against the Romans.