Archaeologists Find 2,200-Year-Old Coin in Israel

Archaeologists digging in Israel uncovered a rare and beautiful glimpse into biblical times: a gold coin dating back to 191 B.C.

The coin, whose discovery was announced on Wednesday, was discovered in Tel Kedesh in upper Galilee, embedded in a wall. It was minted in Alexandria, Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy V, The Jerusalem Post reported.

One side of the coin displays the face of Queen Arsinoe II Philadelphus, wife of Ptolemy II, while the reverse shows "two overlapping cornucopias decorated with fillets," according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation," Donald T. Ariel, head of Antiquities Authority's coin department, said in a statement. "It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel."The coin is unusually large and heavy, weighing 1 ounce, CNN reported. Most contemporary coins only weighed about 0.16 ounces.

Experts say it's unlikely that the coin was ever used to pay for anything. Instead, it probably had a symbolic or ceremonial purpose.

"A coin this size wouldn't have been circulating in the markets," Ariel said.

The name "Philadelphus" means "brotherly love." This may refer to the fact that Arsinoe and her husband, Ptolemy II, were also brother and sister, which was common in the period.

The Tel Kedesh area was home to a range of ethnic groups, including Phoenicians, Persians and Canaanites.

via Archaeologists Find 2,200-Year-Old Coin in Israel.

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