A resident of East Jerusalem was arrested Wednesday night when ancient coins were found in his possession, one of which, according to research, belonged to the Hasmonean king Mattathias Antigonus.
The coin of the king, who was the last of the Hasmonean kings, was seized in a joint operation conducted tonight by the policemen of the Jerusalem district's Shalem station together with the inspectors of the robbery prevention unit of the Israeli Antiquities Authority when a house was searched in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
I heard it differently:
— Naomi Litvin נעמי ליטבין (@NaomiLitvin) June 8, 2023
"During a search of a house in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, 21 ancient coins were found in the possession of an #Arab suspect, including a coin of Matthiatus Antigonus, one of the last of the Hasmonean kings."
via @ISRAELIBOND
During the search, 21 ancient coins were located in the possession of the suspect, a 30-year-old local resident, and he was transferred to the Antiquities Authority for investigation on suspicion of antiquities theft, possession of archaeological items in violation of the law, and attempted antiquities trade. The coins were found by the inspectors.
The Antiquities Authority stated that the findings are a group of ancient bronze coins from different periods, beginning from the Roman period to the Muslim period, which were allegedly illegally excavated from antiquities sites in the Jerusalem area using metal detectors.
According to Dr. Gabriela Bichovski, a coin expert at the Antiquities Authority, "It is a coin of the Hasmonean king, Mattathias Antigonus, who reigned in 37-40 BC. On the obverse side of the coin appears a cornucopia, and around it is an inscription in ancient Hebrew: "Mattia the Cohen [Jewish high priest] a member of the..." and on the back of the coin there is an inscription on Greek within a wreath: ΒΑCI ANTIΓΟΝΟΥ.
Israeli Police caught an Arab resident of Jerusalem, involved in the illegal archeology - archeological robbery. In "the Arab neighborhoods" of Jerusalem he dug-out many ancient coins, including a VERY RARE coin minted during Antigonus the Hasmonean (king of Judea & Israel): pic.twitter.com/vtMrS2OZYo
— Avraham Goldstein (@AvrahamGoldste3) June 7, 2023
Mattathias minted bronze coins in three denominations: large, medium, and small. The seized coin is of medium value and is rarer than the large ones, on which a pair of cornucopias appears instead of one. Dr. Bichovski added that "the technique of making the tokens of the coins is unique to this king. The tokens were first cast in a double limestone mold, creating a thick coin that looks like two tokens stuck together. Therefore, the token profile is so original and special. It is very difficult to find a coin of Antigonus, where you can see the models in their entirety on the face of the coin. Among the Hasmonean coins, the coins of Mattathias Antigonus are the rarest."
The Antiquities Authority says that finding the coin in the circumstances of an archaeological dig, and not in a suspicious house, could have been much more gratifying. "The removal of the coin from the archaeological context in which it is found, damages the ability to understand the historical puzzle of the finding," said Eli Escocido, Director of the Antiquities Authority.
