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Huge Trove of Gold Coins from Abbasid Period Unearthed in Israel

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 3:06 pm
by SwordfishMining
“It is extremely rare to find treasures from the Abbasid period in excavations in Israel — especially gold coins,” said Dr. Robert Kool, a coin expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The total weight of the hoard is about 845 grams of pure gold (24 carats).

“With such a sum, a person could buy a luxurious house in one of the best neighborhoods in Fustat, the enormous wealthy capital of Egypt in those days,” Dr. Kool noted.

The hoard consists of full gold dinars, but also contains about 270 small gold cuttings — pieces of gold dinars cut to serve as small change.
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“This is one of the earliest known caches from this period — end of the 9th century CE — found in the country.”