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Currency was issued by Jews during the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the Second Jewish War with Rome (132–135 CE). In the ancient world, minting your own money was a statement of political autonomy. It symbolized open rebellion if one group was subordinate to another. Many of the Bar Kokhba coins were also “overstruck,” which means that original Roman coins were effaced, and re-struck with Jewish symbols. This was another act of rebellion. Roman deities and kings were filed off and replaced with the Temple or the Ark of the Covenant. In the coin pictured here, two trumpets are surrounded by the inscription “For the Freedom of Jerusalem.” A harp appears on the opposite side, and reads “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel.” The coin was probably struck in 134 CE, two years after the beginning of the revolt.