Five decades after the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, Shimon Bar Kokhba led a revolt against their rule, and temporarily liberated parts of Judea. His followers even began minting their own coins, until Roman legionaries crushed the rebels at the battle of Beitar in 135 CE. Excavations in the old city of Jerusalem recent unearthed one of those coins:
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) says that it is the only coin from the period bearing the name “Jerusalem” that has been found in the ancient part of the holy city. According to IAA archaeologists, “it is possible that a Roman soldier from the Tenth Legion found the coin during one of the battles across the country and brought it to their camp in Jerusalem as a souvenir.”
The obverse of the coin is decorated with a cluster of grapes and the inscription, “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel.” Its reverse side features a palm tree and the inscription, “Jerusalem.”
Donald Tzvi Ariel, who has examined more than 22,000 coins discovered in excavations in the Old City in Jerusalem, said that only four of these date to the period of the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Read more on JNS: https://www.jns.org/rare-bar-kochba-era-coin-discovered-at-foot-of-temple-mount/