A rare half-shekel coin, similar to those used in the biblical census commandment, was recently discovered by members of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) Robbery Prevention Unit in the Judean Desert.
The coin was found during the IAA's Judean Desert Caves survey, which is conducted in cooperation with the Heritage Ministry and the Civil Administration's Archaeology Staff Officer.
The survey is an ongoing project by the IAA meant to protect archaeological sites in the Judean Desert from looting and unauthorized excavations.
According to the IAA, the coin is approximately 2,000 years old and may have fallen from the pocket of a rebel fleeing into the desert during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome, approximately between 66 and 74 CE.
“The coin bears the Hebrew inscription 'Half Shekel' alongside a chalice motif, a characteristic symbol found on Jewish coins from the late Second Temple period,” IAA researcher Yaniv David Levy said. “Above it appears the letter Aleph, denoting the first year of the outbreak of the revolt.”
Hundreds of ancient, counterfeit coins seized in raid
In January, the IAA announced that approximately 450 ancient and counterfeit coins had been seized during a raid on the home of an East Jerusalem resident suspected of smuggling and illegally selling antiquities.
The raid was jointly conducted by IAA’s Robbery Prevention Unit, Israel Police, and Border Police.
The collection, hidden in a flowerpot on the suspect's balcony, included coins from the Hasmonean, Herodian, and Roman periods, the IAA said, noting that several of the pieces had already been set into pendants and jewelry.
“One of the pendants held what appeared to be a counterfeit sela coin from the first year of the Bar Kochba revolt,” Ilan Hadad, an archaeologist and inspector in charge of commerce at the IAA, said.