Objects Discovered In Deserts Can Turn Out To Be Worth A Bucketload Of Money

1630Boston

Deserts such as the Gobi, the Sahara and the Namib conjure up images of endless expanses of nothingness, perhaps enlivened by the occasional camel train. But, surprisingly, they can yield items of high value. People who have been either incredibly lucky or who know just where to look have turned up objects of great worth more times than you might expect.

In 2010, archeologists working in northern Israel made a stunning discovery in the desert there. They unearthed a gold coin, and what a coin it is. It weighs more than any other gold currency previously found in Israel. Experts believe that the 2,200-year-old piece was made in ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy V. Speaking to Associated Press, Donald T. Ariel of the Israel Antiquities Authority said, “It must have been equivalent to half a year or a year’s salary in one coin.”

from

The coin, which apparently served ritual purposes, depicts a queen � apparently Arsino� II � wife of her brother Ptolemy II

An extremely rare 2200-year old gold coin was uncovered recently in the excavations of the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota at Tell Kedesh in Israel near its Lebanese border. The coin was minted in Alexandria by Ptolemy V in 191 BCE and bears the name of the wife of Ptolemy II, Arsino� Philadephus (II).

According to Dr. Donald T. Ariel, head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, �This is an amazing numismatic find. The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel.

The coin weighs almost one ounce (27.71 grams), while most ancient gold coins weighed 4.5 grams. In Ariel�s words, �This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function. The coin may have had a ceremonial function related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsino�, who was deified in her lifetime. The denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.

more = https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n33a18.html

ricko

Very true... deserts or wastelands (such as found in the U.S. West) can produce interesting finds... I have a friend who found a one ounce gold nugget hidden under a stone in an old fireplace, the cabin around had long since degenerated. Another found an old rifle in a long abandoned miners shack. These were in Arizona... we used to go out into desert areas often, looking for old mines and stuff left by pioneers. Cheers, RickO

metalmeister

I used to go motorcycling out in the CA / AZ deserts over 30 years starting in the 1970's. Biggest take away was it see that people ( Native Americans / prospectors ) lived out in the middle of no where and survived ( or didn't ). Found crashed military jets, old mines, mine shafts ( don't ask ). Amazing geology and unexpected sites were always coming into view.

Timbuk3

Unbelievable !!!

ricko

@metalmeister....Yes, what you find - objects, people, ruins - out in the desert is amazing...always interesting. Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

@ricko said:
@metalmeister....Yes, what you find - objects, people, ruins - out in the desert is amazing...always interesting. Cheers, RickO

The same can be said for the woods [forests] out in the Berkshire Mountains here in Massachusetts

ricko

@1630Boston .... and here in the Catskill Mountains....Very old cellar holes and graves... area was settled in the 1600's. Cheers, RickO