 The largest collection of gold coins yet discovered in Israel was found in recent weeks on the seabed in the ancient harbor in Caesarea National Park, the Antiquities Authority said. Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Archeology Unit at the Antiquities Authority, said on Tuesday there is likely a wreck near the find of an official Fatimid treasury ship that was on its way to the central government in Cairo with tax revenue.Alternatively, the coins were meant to pay the salaries of the Fatimid military garrison that was stationed in Caesarea, or they belonged to a large merchant ship, he said.Sharvit said the divers, Tzvika Feuer, Kobi Tweena, Avivit Fishler, Yoav Lavi and Yoel Miller, were model citizens for reporting the treasure to the Antiquities Authority.“They discovered the gold and have hearts of gold that love the country and its history,” he said.The Antiquities Law provides for a punishment of up to five years in jail for the illegal removal or sale of antiquities.The oldest coin found is a quarter dinar minted in Palermo, Sicily in the second half of the ninth century CE, the authority said.
– Many divers search long and hard for sunken treasure, but an Israeli diving club out for a recent dive in their local harbor struck literal gold by chance: 2,000 priceless gold coins that had been sitting on the seabed for about 1,000 years, the largest stash of gold ever found in Israel, reports the Jerusalem Post. The Israel Antiquities Authority says the coins appear to date back to between 909 and 1171, and that they're from North Africa and the Middle East. "There is probably a shipwreck there of an official treasury boat which was on its way to the central government in Egypt with taxes that had been collected," an IAA rep tells AFP. Another theory: The coins could have been to pay soldiers stationed at the local garrison. Some of the coins show bite marks—indicating that they were at some point examined up close and personal for authenticity, notes AFP—but are otherwise in excellent condition. The divers at first thought the stash, found in the harbor at Caesarea National Park on Israel's Mediterranean coastline, was made up of toy coins, but they quickly reported the find when they realized it was the real deal. "They discovered the gold and have a heart of gold that loves the country and its history," says the IAA rep. But thanks and praise is all they get: No finder's fee, says the IAA. (Check out how much gold was found last year on a shipwreck dating back to 1857.)