At long last, after a police search that spanned 20 years, a quarter shekel coin from as far back as 69 AD has been returned to the state of Israel. One of only four of its kind known to exist and its estimated worth is $1m.
The silver coin was minted during a Jewish revolt nearly 2 millennia (2000) years ago but taken from Israel in 2002. The search for the coin had begun when the Israel Antiquities Authority -IAA, was informed that the coin had been stolen by Palestinians from a hoard unearthed in Ella Valley, which was located south of Jerusalem.
The IAA says it spent the next ten years and six months trying to find the coin, which had already passed through illicit antique markets in Israel, Jordan, and the UK. Finally, it was eventually exported to the US for sale in an auction in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.
The coin was handed over on Monday, September 12, in a ceremony at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office attended by US and Israeli officials like Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan.
