Israel Finds Rare 2,200-Year-Old Gold Coin

NPR ^ | 11 Aug 2010 | anon

[BlackVeil]

The pictures - at link - show the beautiful, untarnished image of the gold coin.

[GeronL]

So is this what they looked like before they were “shaved” to make more coins?

[NoLibZone]

When will they find an ancient Palestinian coin?

[mountainlion]

When will they find an ancient Palestinian coin?

The second Tuesday next week.

[OldDeckHand]

Kind of surprising that they're handling it without gloves on. Maybe it makes no difference with pure gold.

I wonder who "owns" it, and how much it's worth.

[Verginius Rufus]

I guess if it was minted by the rulers of Egypt it belongs to Egypt. I suppose the Israelis will send it to Egypt about the same time the British send the Elgin marbles back to Greece and the Russians send Priam’s treasure to Turkey.

[OldDeckHand]

"I guess if it was minted by the rulers of Egypt it belongs to Egypt"

Here I wasn't even thinking about which country owned it. I was wondering if an individual could lay claim to it. I suppose the salvage rights on land are much different than they are in the open sea. You're probably right, Egypt owns it.

[Yo-Yo]

Cue the Goldline ad in 3..2..1...

[Plutarch]

[BlackVeil]

You must admit ... they can fairly say that this is a product which lasts.

[Verginius Rufus]

The thing about ancient gold coins is they tend to be in really good shape when they are found (they don’t rust)...or so I’ve been told, I’ve never owned one.

[jmcenanly]

Considering that Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt in 332 B.C., the ruler of Egypt in 190 B.C,. would have been Ptolemy V Epiphanes ,a descendant of a body guard of Alexander the great, the Greek leader.Ptolemy V Epiphanes also figures prominently in the book of Maccabees. If the coin proves anything, then the land belongs to Greece.

[Puddleglum]

Good - I was wondering where I had dropped it. I will send them my address so they can return it to me.

[eclecticEel]

[Mobties]

I’m not very good at this sort of thing but I’d say the engraving at the top of the “tails” side looks like Arabic. Can anyone confirm? Can anyone read any of the inscriptions?

[fish hawk]

Isn’t that G.Gordon Liddy’s hand?

[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks GeronL. So is this what they looked like before they were "shaved" to make more coins? This one is kind of an oddity anyway, probably didn't circulate for long if at all. And you're right, besides outright counterfeiting (which was sometimes so sophisticated, they looked more authentic than legal coins), which still required some gold for the exterior, probably most of the gold coins minted in ancient times were reminted in ancient times by parties both real and faux. Rome shipped a great deal of gold coin to India to buy bric-a-brac and pay for telephone support, and that gold has been recycled, or in some cases remained in use. Now and again someone notices and collects post-Alexander Greek kingdom currency that is circulating in India and Pakistan, but I'm not too sure that Roman coins have been found in this way. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[GeronL]

I got stuck at “telephone support”. lol.

[SunkenCiv]

;’)

[Mike Darancette]

So what are the odds that a 2,200 year old coin weighs 1 Oz Avoirdupois?