Coin-looting arrest in the Negev

APPREHENDED: Negev antiquities robber nabbed with trove of 150 Byzantine-era coins. Antiquities authority's theft prevention unit discovers resident of Bir Hadaj using a metal detector at the Haluza UNESCO World Heritage Site (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

These particular bronze coins, now held as evidence in court, could date from circa the 1st century CE or slightly earlier to the 6th century CE, said Erickson-Gini.

Their impressive age, however, doesn’t mean they are valuable: Fitoussi would estimate the entire trove to be worth only a few hundred dollars. Their value is in their worth as research aids — at excavation sites.

“The minute they’re found outside of their context, we have no idea where they came from. Coins can give researchers a lot of information. It’s possible to learn a lot about places from them, but since we don’t know from where they came from exactly, the coins’ historical worth is devalued,” said Fitoussi.

Cross-file under Numismatics.

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