Posted on 02/20/2015 10:33:53 AM PST by T Ruth
A group of divers in Israel has discovered almost 2,000 ancient gold coinsthe largest cache in the countrys historyoff the coast of the city of Caesarea, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.
The coins have been at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea for about 1,000 years, said Robert Cole, a numismaticist for the Israel Antiquities Authority. * * *
The majority of the coins were forged in Egypt and North Africa and have been traced to the 10th- and 11th-century Fatimid caliphs Al-Ḥākim and Al-Ẓāhir. The coins are still in near-perfect condition because gold isnt affected by air or water like other metals, the Antiquities Authority said. In a super cool example of the fact that there were real people who lived a millennia ago, some of the coins have bite marks, probably from people examining their authenticity.
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(Excerpt) Read more at observer.com ...
Yes. Not exactly encouraging to come forward with a find like that. Give them a fair cut at least and everyone walks away happy.
Let them keep it all and they might even do something useful - invest the proceeds in the Israeli economy. Win-win.
With my luck it would end up being an empty Absopure water bottle.......
And now the “state” lays claim to them & the public will never see them ever again, because some egghead will want to study them....
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