Rare 2,500-Year-Old Coin Discovered on Ashdod Beach
While scanning the beach in Ashdod, Avi Chaparak discovered a 2,500-year-old coin. The Israel Antiquities Authority confirmed it is the first of its kind from Cyprus to be found in Israel.
A rare coin dating back approximately 2,500 years, originating from Cyprus, was recently discovered on a beach in Ashdod. Upon examination by the Israel Antiquities Authority, it was confirmed to be the first of its kind ever found in Israel.
The coin was discovered by Avi Chaparak, deputy director of the beach department at the Ashdod Municipality, who routinely assists visitors in locating lost items. About a month ago, during one of these searches, he spotted an unusual object and submitted it for expert analysis.
The examination revealed that the coin was minted in the city of Salamis, Cyprus, around the mid-5th century BCE, during the Persian period. Weighing approximately 11 grams, the coin is a "siglos." According to Yaniv David Levy, a curator at the Israel Antiquities Authority, the item is made of metal plated with silver—a known practice for Cypriot coins of that era due to a silver shortage on the island.
"The circumstances of the discovery and the accurate reporting allow us, the researchers, not only to identify the coin itself, but also to use it as a source of information about the economic and maritime ties that existed in the region about 2,500 years ago," he said.
The coin features a recumbent ram on one side and a ram's head on the other, surrounded by a square sunken frame, a laurel branch, and signs in the Cypriot syllabic script.
"Coins of this size and value from the Persian period are rare in the archaeological record," explained David Levy. He noted that such coins were typically cut into smaller pieces for use as "hacksilver" in local trade, making the discovery of a whole coin in a coastal area exceptionally significant.
Evangeline Markou, an expert on ancient Cypriot coins from the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens, noted that verified findings like this shed light on trade relations and movement between Cyprus and the Land of Israel during the Persian period.
Chaparak was awarded a certificate of appreciation for his contribution. "For me, it was clear that the coin belongs to the heritage of us all, and therefore I immediately transferred it to the Israel Antiquities Authority," he said. Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu praised Chaparak, describing the coin as "tangible evidence of the maritime and commercial ties" that existed between the Land of Israel and Cyprus millennia ago.
