2016-04-04 Mon

25 years ago, a German doctor named Dr. Tonio Sebastian Richter discovered an old bronze coin from 178-179 C.E on an educational visit to Jerusalem. The coin bore a profile of the Roman Emperor Commodus with the name "Ashkelon" inscribed in Greek script.

Richter realised that the coin is an ancient Roman coin from Ashkelon after getting it back to Berlin and cleaning it. After gathering some information about the coin he got to know that Israel Museum was celebrating 50th anniversary and like an honest human being, decided to return the coin to them after 25 long years.

Dr. Haim Gitler, chief curator of the Israel Museum's Archaeology Wing said, "This important coin is larger than the standard coins that were used on a daily basis. It might be that it was minted for a special occasion. It measures 1.3 inches across and weighs 33.4 grams. It's exciting, because this is the only coin of its type. I believe it will be displayed in the future."