Uncovered: Heaviest Gold Coin Ever Found in Israel
by Hillel Fendel
by Hillel Fendel
Archaeologists working in Tel Kedesh in northern Israel have uncovered an extremely rare 2,200-year-old gold coin, minted in Alexandria by King Ptolemy V.
The head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Association, long-time American immigrant Dr. Donald T. Ariel, said, “This is the heaviest and most valuable ancient gold coin ever found in an excavation in Israel.” The coin depicts a queen, believed to be Arsinoe II Philadelphus, who was married to her half-brother Ptolemy II. It is possible, however, that it may actually be Ptolemy V's wife Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III."
The excavations at Tel Kedesh, near Israel's border with Lebanon, are being carried out by the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota.
“This is an amazing numismatic find," Dr. Ariel said. "The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel, weighing almost an ounce," or 27.7 grams, compared with 4.5 grams for most ancient gold coins.
In Ariel’s words, “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function, possibly related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsinoe, who was deified in her lifetime." The coin's denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.
read the rest of the article here:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139066
for another report, go here:
http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14
for a high resolution picture of the coin, click here:
http://www.antiquities.org.il/
The excavations at Tel Kedesh, near Israel's border with Lebanon, are being carried out by the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota.
“This is an amazing numismatic find," Dr. Ariel said. "The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel, weighing almost an ounce," or 27.7 grams, compared with 4.5 grams for most ancient gold coins.
In Ariel’s words, “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function, possibly related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsinoe, who was deified in her lifetime." The coin's denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.
read the rest of the article here:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139066
for another report, go here:
http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14
for a high resolution picture of the coin, click here:
http://www.antiquities.org.il/
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