The United States has repatriated two rare and ancient coins, allegedly smuggled from Israel, to their country of origin earlier this week, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday. The formal handover took place during a ceremony in New York City on Monday, marking the culmination of an international operation. This effort involved the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, Homeland Security, and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The coins had been illegally excavated and smuggled from Israel before being brought to the U.S. and recently put up for auction. The IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit received intelligence about the potential sales and promptly relayed it to American authorities. This led to an investigation targeting both the auction houses facilitating the sales and the sellers. Evidence was swiftly gathered, resulting in the confiscation of the two coins from the auction house for their return to Israel.
One of the coins, minted during the reign of the last Hasmonean king, Mattathias Antigonus (40-37 BCE), features a seven-branched menorah, which stood in the Temple in Jerusalem, on one side. This particular coin is not only among the earliest artistic depictions of the menorah but also holds the unique distinction of being the only Jewish coin to ever portray the seven-branched candelabrum. Its reverse side displays the showbread table, another sacred object from the Temple. According to the IAA, Antigonus, as both king and high priest, likely chose to depict these distinct Jewish symbols to garner support from his subjects during his struggle against his rival, Herod, who was backed by Roman political and military power. Given its rarity and its status as the last coin signifying Hasmonean independence, this type of coin is designated an “Item of National Importance” and is prohibited from export outside Israel.
The second repatriated coin is a silver tetradrachm, over 2,500 years old, from the Persian period, minted in Ascalon (modern-day Ashkelon). This is only the second such coin ever discovered, making it exceedingly rare among ancient coins minted in Israel; the other example resides in the Israel Museum’s coin collection. Like the Hasmonean coin, its rarity dictates that it is forbidden from being removed from Israel. Its design draws inspiration from the ancient Athenian tetradrachm, the standard currency in the Eastern Mediterranean during that era. One side of the coin depicts the helmeted Greek goddess Athena, while the other features an owl with spread wings. Above the owl, in the upper right corner, are the Phoenician letters “Aleph” and “Nun,” an abbreviation for its mint, Ascalon.
Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, spoke at the handover ceremony, stating: “These extraordinary coins represent an important piece of history that is finally coming home. Furthermore, they represent an extraordinary partnership between the Antiquities Trafficking Unit in New York and the Israel Antiquities Authority. This is a partnership that should serve as a model for the return of looted cultural heritage around the world.”
Dr. Eitan Klein, Deputy Director of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit and Israel’s representative at the ceremony, underscored the illegal antiquities trade as a widespread international phenomenon that demands global cooperation among countries and enforcement agencies to halt. Ilan Hadad, an archaeologist and inspector overseeing antiquities commerce at the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, echoed this concern, describing the illegal trade as a “distressing international phenomenon, which constitutes an economic engine promoting antiquities looting and untold damage to cultural heritage assets.” He lamented that “for the sake of money, thousands of years old antiquities from the State of Israel are looted, smuggled and sold abroad,” and affirmed the IAA’s diligent efforts to combat this practice and “preserve and protect the historical heritage of the State of Israel.”
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu praised the coins’ return and the U.S.’s cooperation, acknowledging its significance “not only in the security arena, but also to bring home our historical story.” Eliyahu asserted, “The theft of antiquities is an attempt to erase this history of ours and cut us off from our roots. They will not succeed. We will continue to act resolutely together with partners around the world to stop this phenomenon and to protect our heritage.”
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