{"id":113668,"date":"2026-05-14T14:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/113668\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T14:08:14","slug":"2000-year-old-coin-with-earliest-menorah-image-returned-to-israel-after-us-seizure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/113668\/","title":{"rendered":"2,000-year-old coin with earliest menorah image returned to Israel after US seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two rare coins dating to over 2,000 years ago have been returned to Israel, following a joint law-enforcement operation between Israel and the United States, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

One of the coins bears the earliest known depiction<\/a> of the seven-branched Jewish menorah, along with a showbread table used in the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It was minted in bronze in the first half of the first century CE, when the Second Temple was still standing.<\/p>\n

The other coin, a 2,500-year-old silver coin most likely minted in the ancient city of Ashkelon, is only the second of its kind known worldwide.<\/p>\n

According to the IAA, the coins were unearthed by looters and smuggled abroad. They were set to be sold at auctions in the US but were seized in a joint operation between the IAA Theft Prevention Unit, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office, and US Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

The artifacts were handed over during a ceremony in New York on Monday.<\/p>\n

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Both coins are very representative of the period and location they came from, according to Robert Kool, head of the IAA Coin Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes this coin so interesting is the iconography,\u201d Kool told The Times of Israel over the phone, referring to the menorah.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA rare 2,500-year-old coin minted in the ancient city of Ashkelon was returned to the State of Israel on May 12, 2026, after a joint investigation by the US authorities and the Israel Antiquities Authority. (Eitan Klein\/Israel Antiquities Authority)<\/p>\n

The value of bronze coins was significantly lower than that of gold or silver coins, and they are much more common to find in archaeological excavations and on the market.<\/p>\n

Yet, the Hasmonean coin saved in the US represents something of an exception, both because only a few dozen like it have been identified (a relatively small number for a bronze coin) and because of the highly symbolic value of its engravings.<\/p>\n

Mattathias Antigonus was the last of the Maccabees, the family of high priests who, over a century earlier, defeated the Greek Seleucids in the story celebrated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.<\/p>\n

He was supported by the Parthians, the group that ruled Persia and other territories in the East at the time, who in 40 BCE conquered the land of Israel from the Romans and installed Mattathias as king of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\u201cHerod was seen as an usurper, and Mattathias was not only the king, but also the high priest,\u201d Kool noted. \u201cThese coins were sending a message: \u2018I am the king and the high priest, and I\u2019m safeguarding the most precious symbols and the Temple for the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tRobert Kool, head of the Coin Department at the Israel Antiquities Authority, examines coins discovered near Jerusalem\u2019s Western Wall in undated picture. (Shai Halevi\/Israel Antiquities Authority)<\/p>\n

At the time, the Temple was still standing, but, according to Yuval Baruch, a researcher of menorahs and head of the IAA Archaeology Administration, only the priests could approach the candelabra.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the time of Mattathias Antigonus, access to the menorah inside the Temple in Jerusalem was limited,\u201d he explained in an IAA statement in 2024. \u201cWe assume that no one (except the priests themselves) could stand next to the menorah with drafting tools and draw it, but could only look at it from afar. All people could do was imprint the appearance of the menorah in their memory and later \u2014 sketch or design it \u2014 from memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coin also bears inscriptions in both paleo-Hebrew script and Greek, the former reading \u201cMattathias the High Priest,\u201d and the latter \u201cKing Antigonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first to use this double title in two languages,\u201d Kool said. \u201cOn the one hand, he calls himself the high priest; on the other, he wanted to portray himself as a Hellenistic king, which is not surprising because they lived in a Hellenistic environment, and in Hellenistic culture, it was quite natural to have the high priest and the kingship combined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA rare 2,000-year-old coin bearing the earliest known depiction of the Temple\u2019s menorah on one side the showbread table on the other, was returned to the State of Israel on May 12, 2026, after a joint investigation by the US authorities and the Israel Antiquities Authority. (Eitan Klein\/Israel Antiquities Authority)<\/p>\n

The expert explained that, in ancient times, minting coins served not only a practical purpose but also a political statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoins were the Instagram of the first century BCE,\u201d he said. \u201cHow would a ruler disseminate his ideology otherwise, in a time when there were no media?\u201d<\/p>\n

In 37 BCE, Mattathias Antigonus was defeated by Herod, who turned the region into a Roman vassal state.<\/p>\n

Coins bearing Jewish symbols were minted again about a century later, during the First Jewish Revolt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The other coin, returned to Israel in New York, depicts the Greek goddess Athena with her helmet on the obverse and an owl spreading its wings on the reverse, images similar to those on the Athenian silver tetradrachm. It also featured the letters alef and nun in Phoenician script, the first and last letters of Ashkelon, suggesting its origin.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Ashkelon was a Phoenician city,\u201d Kool said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Phoenicians were great traders active across the Mediterranean,\u201d he added. \u201cThe coin imitates the Athenian tetradrachm, which was basically the most important standard currency of its time in the eastern Mediterranean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tHaim Gitler, chief curator of Archaeology and Curator of Numismatics at The Israel Museum. (Eli Posner\/The Israel Museum, Jerusalem)<\/p>\n

Silver tetradrachms weighed about 17 grams. Similar coins were minted in several locations at the time for commercial use.<\/p>\n

However, the only other coin of the exact same type known in the world is currently part of the Israel Museum collection.<\/p>\n

Also in this case, the coin was not found in an archaeological excavation, but rather acquired by Haim Gitler, chief archaeology curator and curator of numismatics at the Israel Museum, in an auction in 1998.<\/p>\n

Since they are detached from their archaeological context, artifacts from the antiquity market cannot provide the same information as those retrieved during a scientific expedition.<\/p>\n

According to Gitler, the letters alef and nun next to the owl are likely to refer to Ashkelon, since adding the first and last letter of a city name to indicate a coin\u2019s origins was a known phenomenon \u2014 though not all experts agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see two coins were struck using the same dies, as in both, it looks like Athena is crying,\u201d said Gitler, referring to an imperfection in the image that resembles a tear, showing that the same tool was used to manufacture them. \u201cThe coin retrieved from the IAA was minted before the other one, because it\u2019s in better condition, which means the dies were less deteriorated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gitler also said that the coins might not have been minted in the city itself, but rather at a central Phoenician mint producing coins for multiple Phoenician cities.<\/p>\n

According to the auction house he bought the coin from, the artifact he acquired was part of a hoard found in the Egyptian city of Ismailiya in 1983, made of several silver tetradrachms from the period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that the Phoenician tetradrachm we are discussing imitated Athenian coins dated between 420 and 405 BCE,\u201d Gitler said.<\/p>\n

Gitler explained that it is not surprising that no similar coin has ever been found in an archaeological excavation, as, in general, there are many more known coins from the antiquity market than from excavations.<\/p>\n

Kool reiterated the importance of working against antiquity looting and illegal trade.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tCol. Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office, returns two ancient coins from Israel seized in the US to Israel Antiquities Authority Theft Prevention Unit deputy director Eitan Klein on May 12, 2026. (Israel Antiquities Authority)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really destroys culture, whether in Israel or in any other country in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Israeli and US officials stressed the importance of international cooperation to eradicate the threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe illegal trade in looted antiquities is a widespread international phenomenon, which requires cooperation between countries and enforcement agencies around the world,\u201d IAA Theft Prevention Unit deputy director Eitan Klein said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a partnership that should serve as a model for the return of looted cultural heritage around the world,\u201d noted Col. Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two rare coins dating to over 2,000 years ago have been returned to Israel, following a joint law-enforcement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[39342,39338,14865,28417,21490,37291,37,39339,39340,39341],"class_list":{"0":"post-113668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-ancient-coins","9":"tag-antiquities-theft","10":"tag-archaeology","11":"tag-archaeology-in-israel","12":"tag-ashkelon","13":"tag-iaa-israel-antiquities-authority","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-maccabees","16":"tag-menorahs","17":"tag-phoenicia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116573326981366038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}