Exquisite 2,200-year-old Gold Coin Found

The head of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Coin Department, Dr. Donald Ariel, said that this coin, which is the heaviest and most valuable ancient gold coin ever found in an excavation in Israel, apparently served a ritual purpose.  “This is an amazing numismatic find,” explained Dr. Ariel. “The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation.” The coin weighs 27.71 grams [almost one Troy ounce], “while most ancient gold coins weighed 4.5 grams.”

Arsinoe II, daughter of Ptolemy I Soter, was married at age 15 to one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Lysimachus, king of Thrace. After Lysimachus’ death, she married her brother, Ptolemy II, who established a cult in her honor. According to Dr. Ariel, “It is rare to find Ptolemaic coins in Israel dating after the country came under Seleucid rule in 200 BC. The only other gold Ptolemaic coin from an excavation in Israel [from Akko] dates…in the third century BC and weighs less than two grams.”

Three years ago, an Alexandrine hoard of Ptolemaic gold coins appeared on the world antiquities market. However, it contained no coins of Ptolemy V, so the extreme rarity of this mnaieion remains unimpaired.