It is fitting that on the Ninth of Av, the day on which the Jewish people mourn the destruction of their Temple in Jerusalem, we present this coin, minted by Antoninus Pius. As the successor of Hadrian, the Roman emperor who completed the destruction of Jerusalem that began in 70 CE under Emperor Vespasian, paganizing the city and rededicating it as Aelia Capitolina. Antoninus Pius ended the downward spiral of destruction, restored the right of the Jews to practice their religion and rekindled the hope of the Jewish people for a better future.Cross-file under Numismatics.
This coin is rare, as the article notes. It seems that few coins from the reign of Antoninus Pius have been found in Israel. I noted the discovery of (reportedly) the first ever back in 2010 (here and here) and two more in recent years here and here.
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