Israel finds rare 2,200-year-old gold coin

in Alexander the Great, Ancient Macedonian History, Ancient Macedonian Kings, Archaeology, Articles, Diaspora, newspapers / by History / on August 18, 2010 at 1:16 am /

A 2200 year old coin is seen at the Israel Museum, in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. Archaeologists say they have excavated the heaviest and most valuable gold coin to date in Israel. The 2200-year-old coin, weighing almost one ounce, was found at the Tel Kedesh site near the border with Lebanon on June 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill) (Tara Todras-whitehill - AP)

The Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Archaeologists say they have uncovered the heaviest and most valuable gold coin ever found in Israel. The 2,200-year-old coin weighs an ounce (28 grams) and was found at the Tel Kedesh site near the Lebanon border on June 22, according to Wednesday’s statement from the antiquities authority.

It said this coin is six times the weight of most others from that era.

Donald Ariel, head of the antiquities authority coin department, said the coin dates back to the rule of the Iraq-based Seleucid Empire, though it was minted by the rival Egyptian Ptolemies.

Ariel said the coin’s image may represent Cleopatra I, wife of Ptolemy V. It is only the second gold Ptolemaic coin ever found in Israel. The first weighed just two grams (0.07 ounces).

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2F&h=c93fa