Gold_Coins

400 Gold Coins from 6th and 7th centuries CE at Beth Shean, discovered in 1997.

The Israel Antiquities Authority was performing a rescue excavation at a site where a youth hostel will be constructed when archaeologists unearthed a large ceramic jug holding two to four hundred gold coins from the sixth or seventh century A.D. The coins were—literally—in mint condition. Ofer Sion, director of the dig, speculates that the owner of the Byzantine villa where the coins were found hid them under the floor temporarily, intending to come back for them later.

“Strata,” BAR Jan-Feb 1999.

“Not at the End of the Rainbow; Pot of Gold Found in Beth-Shean,” BAR Jan-Feb 1999.