Israel, "Israel Liberata" medal, laudatory medal for Foundation of the state of Israel 1948, struck c.1961, bronze

Obv: a Jewish woman holds aloft her infant below a palm tree as a man plants a sapling nearby, ISRAEL LIBERATA (Israel freed) and hebrew equivalent around

Rev: a depiction of the famous Roman coin from after the first century Jewish Revolt, showing a triumphal Roman soldier near a palm tree watching over the weeping figure of Judea, IVDEA CAPTA around, SC in exergue, chain and Hebrew legend around edge

Diameter: 61mm; Condition: Very fine, planchet flaws on reverse and to reverse edge at 9 o'clock.

Notes: this interesting medal was authorised by the Israeli government, and is not often encountered in numismatic commerce. The modern state of Israel was founded in 1948 as the culmination of events beginning with the Balfour Declaration of 1918, and the terrible atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis in the Second World War. The reverse design depicts the bronze sestertius struck in 71 AD after the fall of Jerusalem. The Roman soldier is representative of the Emperor Vespasian.

Price £45