Rare 2,500-Year-Old Cypriot Coin Found on Israeli Beach Reveals Ancient Mediterranean Trade

Exceptionally rare Persian-era coin discovered in Ashdod is the first of its kind documented in Israel

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

ASHDOD, Israel (Worthy News) – A municipal beach worker searching Israel’s Mediterranean coastline for items lost by swimmers discovered something far older than expected: an exceptionally rare 2,500-year-old coin minted in ancient Cyprus.

Avi Chaprak, deputy director of Ashdod’s Beaches Department, found the coin roughly one month ago while searching the beach for lost jewelry and personal belongings. Recognizing that it might be ancient, he reported the discovery and transferred it to the Israel Antiquities Authority under Israel’s antiquities laws.

Experts with the authority’s Coin Department determined that the object was a silver-plated siglos, weighing approximately 11 grams, minted in the ancient Cypriot city of Salamis during the middle of the fifth century B.C. The island was then under the rule of the Persian Empire.

Researchers said the coin is the first known example of its type discovered in Israel.

Although it initially appeared to be solid silver, closer examination revealed that it was made from a less valuable base metal covered with a layer of silver. Yanniv David Levy, a researcher and curator with the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Coin Department, said the practice was known in Cyprus during that period because the island suffered from shortages of silver.

Ancient Symbols Preserved

One face of the coin depicts a reclining ram looking toward the left. The reverse shows a ram’s head inside a sunken square, accompanied by a laurel branch and three symbols believed to be part of the ancient Cypriot syllabic writing system.

Coins of this size and value from the Persian period are especially uncommon because they were frequently cut into smaller fragments and used as weighed currency in regional commerce.

“Usually, silver coins of this size were not preserved intact,” Levy said. “Over time, they were cut into small pieces for use as local trade currency.”

Most comparable evidence has previously been discovered at inland archaeological sites. Finding a complete coin along Israel’s Mediterranean coastline therefore gives researchers a rare window into the movement of money, merchants, and goods across the sea.

Dr. Evangeline Markou, an expert in ancient Cypriot coinage with Greece’s National Hellenic Research Foundation, said coins minted in Salamis circulated throughout the eastern Mediterranean during the fifth century B.C.

However, coins whose original discovery locations are clearly documented remain rare. The Ashdod find may therefore provide valuable evidence concerning maritime traffic and commercial ties between Cyprus and the Land of Israel approximately 2,500 years ago.

Salamis and the Biblical World

Salamis was one of the leading cities on Cyprus’s eastern coast and served as an important center of commerce and culture in the ancient Mediterranean.

Centuries after the newly discovered coin was minted, Salamis appeared in the New Testament account of the Apostle Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey.

“When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues,” Acts 13:5 records.

The passage shows that Salamis maintained an established Jewish community and remained an important point of entry to Cyprus during the first century.

Chaprak received a certificate of appreciation from the Israel Antiquities Authority for preserving and reporting the artifact.

“I knew the coin belonged to our shared heritage, so I immediately turned it over to the Israel Antiquities Authority,” he said. “It is a privilege to contribute to the research and history of the Land of Israel.”

Israeli Heritage Minister Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu said the discovery provides further evidence of the ancient maritime and commercial connections that joined Cyprus with the Land of Israel long before the modern era.

The small coin, preserved against the odds and carried across the Mediterranean centuries before the birth of the Messiah, offers another tangible reminder that the lands and cities named in Scripture existed within a deeply interconnected ancient world.

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