The Legacy of Jewish Coinage

Brushing aside negative portrayals of the ancient rebels, the Zionists made an ideological connection to them because they had bequeathed an important legacy. During their brief independence (five years in the First Revolt and three in the Second Revolt), the rebels revived and repurposed key political concepts from the earlier periods of Jewish sovereignty, reinforcing these concepts and keeping their memory alive for a people about to enter a long period of forced exile.

Among these concepts, all recorded on the rebel coins, are the name of the sovereign Jewish state (Israel), the title of a secular political leader (nasi), the use of the Hebrew language to the exclusion of other languages, and even the goal of political independence (herut, freedom).

After the Romans quashed the revolts, Jews kept the coins. Finds occasionally surface in places like old Cairo. Maimonides and Nahmanides wrote about these Shekels of Israel, the Renaissance rabbi Azariah dei Rossi studied them. Their ideas entered the Jewish cultural bloodstream, aided by a medieval Hebrew paraphrase of Josephus's work, called Sefer Josippon, which emphasized national resistance.

The Jewish rebels struck coins in silver and bronze, both to replace the Roman coins in circulation and to spread political messages. The inscriptions Shekel of Israel, Jerusalem the Holy, Shimon the Prince, Year 2 of the Independence of Israel, Year 4 of the Redemption of Zion are the equivalent of ancient tweets, real-time slogans from the revolts.

These ancient tweets are virtually the only surviving writing from the rebels.

Anyone who has been to Israel has seen the pictorial symbols on these revolt coins - national symbols like a palm tree and citron fruit or lulav and etrog, reminders of the Temple like its musical instruments and the high priest's staff. The modern State of Israel adopted them for today's coins.

To read the complete article, see:
The debt to the Jewish rebels against Rome - opinion(https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-739061)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
BOOK PREVIEW: GUIDE TO BIBLICAL COINS 6TH ED.(https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n47a04.html)
HALF-SHEKEL FROM THE GREAT REVOLT DISCOVERED(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n51a23.html)

Collecto Digitizes Coin Collections

To read the complete article, see:
Collecto - the Easy Way to Digitize Coin Collections(https://coinsweekly.com/collecto-the-easy-way-to-digitize-coin-collections/)

To read about their Qatar Museums Coin Project, see:
The Museum of Islamic Art Coin Project(https://yearsofculture.qa/posts/the-museum-of-islamic-art-coin-project)

To visit the firm's website see:
https://www.collecto.art/

Cape Cod Area Philatelic Group

Stamp collectors have a love of history, a love of learning and an eye for a good investment.

In fact, on Cape Cod, the last remaining stamp club - Cape Cod Area Philatelic Group - would like to help anyone with an old stamp or stamp collection figure out what they have.

Philatelic means the members are not simply stamp collectors but are interested also in the postal history, geography or art connected with it, and their collections can cover a wide range of topics, club member David DuBois, who lives in Falmouth, said.

I learned geography, world capitals, the early British colonies, Bono, former president of the Cape group and current secretary, said at his home in Yarmouth Port surrounded by stamp albums.

People who like to put things in order, are attracted to stamp collecting, Bono said.

To read the complete article, see:
Wondering what to do with a stamp or stamp collection? On Cape Cod there are a few options(https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/lifestyle/features/2023/04/12/stamp-collections-reflect-love-history-learning-orderliness/70061446007/)

Man Throws $100 bills Out Car Window

A man threw piles of cash out of his car window onto Oregon's I-5 freeway on Tuesday night, with several lucky bystanders stopping their vehicles to grab the money.

Police responded to a report of money being thrown out of a vehicle around 7 p.m. on Tuesday on the freeway near Eugene, Oregon.

Police identified McCarthy as the man throwing the money. He later told troopers that he distributed about $200,000 in total, per ABC News affiliate KEZI 9.

Police said they warned McCarthy to stop throwing the money because it was dangerous for people to be running on the I-5 in the dark. They said he took the advice.

McCarthy ultimately wasn't charged with a crime or cited, but Andrews said officers considered it because of the danger it caused on the road, per KEZI 9.

But while several bystanders benefited from the stunt on Tuesday, his family said they've been left penniless.

To read the complete articles, see:
A man threw stacks of $100 bills from his car window in a wild show of generosity. His family says he drained their bank accounts, leaving them broke.(https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-threw-stacks-100-bills-103715649.html)
An Oregon man 'gifted' money to strangers by dropping $200,000 in cash out his car window(https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/us/oregon-cash-blessing-highway-trnd/index.html)