Justin Bullock, FISM News
An Israeli tour guide discovered a mass of 1,700 year old coins while camping near the coastal town of Atlit, Israel. The coins had essentially fused together due to the passage of time and oxidization of the metal. What resulted was a 13 pound mass of coins that also had slight remnants of cloth indicating that the coins were likely stored on a bag which had long since disintegrated with the passage of time.
The tour guide, Yotam Dahan, gave his incredible find to the Israel Antiquities Authority. After analysis they determined that the coins were likely from a shipwreck that occurred approximately 1,700 years ago. At that time the Roman empire was in its height and the area was a well known trade route from Israel to Europe and beyond. It is thought that these coins were contained in a bag and were part of the profits of a recent trade or were going to be the payment for a purchase.
The find also correlated to a massive discovery with similar items that was made in the area in 2016. In the 2016 find, approximately 15 miles away from Dahan’s coins, archaeologists discovered a treasure trove of statues, coins, and other miscellaneous artifacts. This has indicated that the area was a key way point among the various Mediterranean trade routes from hundreds of years ago.