The recently discovered coin
A coin of pure silver from the time of Bayis Sheini was discovered in Yerushalayim by an eleven-year-old girl from Petach Tikva who visited the national park in Emek Tzurim together with her family. A long-running project there allows visitors to search through buckets of material that was dug up in renovation projects on the Temple Mount and just dumped by the Arabs. An archaeological project recovered the tremendous volume of historical earth and is slowly looking through the remains.
Researchers say that the coin weighs 14 grams. One side depicts a goblet with the inscription: "Shekel Yisrael", next to which are engraved the letters Shin-Bet.
The reverse side of the coin depicts a staff, with an engraving in the ancient Hebrew script bearing the words: "Holy Jerusalem."
The Antiquities Authority says: "This is a rare find because, of the many thousands of coins unearthed up to date in archaeological excavations, only thirty coins are made from silver."
The coin was revealed in earth from archaeological digs of the Antiquities Authority in the National Park of the City of David.
