A treasure trove of ancient gold coins have been found by amateur scuba divers off Israel’s Mediterranean coast. Amazingly the divers first thought the coins were from a toy game!
Amateur scuba divers have uncovered a ‘priceless’ hoard of 2,000 gold coins in the waters off Israel’s Mediterranean coastline.
“The largest treasure of gold coins discovered in Israel was found in recent weeks on the seabed in the ancient harbour in Caesarea,” said a statement by Israeli Antiquities Authority.
“At first they thought they had spotted a toy coin from a game and it was only after they understood the coin was the real thing that they collected several coins and quickly returned to the shore in order to inform the director of the dive club about their find”.
Underwater archaeologists went back to the site and found almost 2,000 gold coins in different denominations, dating back over 1,000 years. It’s believed they were in circulation during the time of the Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled much of the Middle East and North Africa from 909 to 1171.
Source: IBTimes and Daily Mail.
