Stacks Bowers is buying and selling all rare coins and currency

HomeAncient CoinsIsrael Recovers Ancient Coins Looted From Archaeological Site

Israel Recovers Ancient Coins Looted From Archaeological Site

Israel Recovers Ancient Coins Looted From Archaeological Site

By Hubert Walker for CoinWeek ….
 

On December 31, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced that it had recovered over 800 ancient coins from the house of a Beit Shemesh man who confessed to looting items from a local archaeological site.

The unidentified man, who is in his 50s, was apprehended by border police while on a routine patrol at the archaeological site of Khirbat Marmita, a Roman-Byzantine Jewish town. The site is 1 km to the east of Naham, a town on the outskirts of Beit Shemesh.

When police arrested him, the man was using a metal detector and had several ancient bronze pieces in his possession. The border police then contacted investigators at the IAA, who interrogated him.

At first, the man denied having anything to do with ancient coins, but eventually confessed that he often used his metal detector to look for ancient coins around the local area.

Investigators then searched the man’s home, finding over 800 coins and numerous other artifacts. The haul included Roman, Hellenistic Greek (i.e., from the era of Alexander the Great), Ottoman, and fifth century BCE Persian coins. Other items included bronze necklaces, seals, arrowheads and cosmetic tools.

Dr. Eitan “Ethan” Klein of the Israel Antiquities Authority told the Times of Israel that removing the objects from the archaeological site nullifies the scientific value of such artifacts, since their provenance and connection to other articles at the site can no longer be established.

He also told the Times that the IAA had caught more than a hundred antiquity thieves in 2014.

In Israel, damage to an archaeological site is punishable by up to five years in prison.

* * *

Sources

http://www.antiquities.org.il/default_en.aspx

http://www.timesofisrael.com/antiquities-thief-busted-with-over-800-ancient-coins/

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-recovers-800-ancient-coins-jewelry-stolen-by-Beit-Shemesh-man-386238

* * *

Hubert Walker
Hubert Walker
Hubert Walker has served as the Assistant Editor of CoinWeek.com since 2015. Along with co-author Charles Morgan, he has written for CoinWeek since 2012, as well as the monthly column "Market Whimsy" for The Numismatist and the book 100 Greatest Modern World Coins (2020) for Whitman Publishing.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Great Collection Coin Auctions

L and C COIN New Coins

Blanchard and Company Gold and Precious Metals