Rare crusader coin found
2005-03-17 12:47
Jerusalem - A rare Crusader coin dating from the mid-13th century has been excavated by archaeologists digging up a flea market in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) said on Wednesday.
The silver half drachma has been dated to between 1251 and 1257 and is imprinted with a cross, fleur-de-lis and an Arabic inscription of the Christian Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, said the IAA.
"It is an extremely rare find and it is the first to be discovered in excavation," numismatics expert at the Israel Museum, Robert Kool, said.
"Until now, we only had two of these coins out of the 150 000 in the museum," he added.
In 1250, a visiting papal legate was furious to discover that Franks in the Latin East minted coins inscribed with the Prophet Mohammed and requested the pope to intervene personally.
Pope Innocent IV banned the practice and threatened to excommunicate all offenders. To circumvent the papal prohibition, minters merely added Christian legends and symbols.
- AFP