JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli archaeologists have announced the discovery of a trove of early Islamic gold coins during recent salvage excavations near the central city of Yavne.
The collection of 425 complete gold coins, most dating to the Abbasid period around 1,100 years ago, is an "extremely rare" find.
Israel Antiquities Authorities archaeologists said on Monday that the discovery was among the largest caches of ancient coins found in Israel.
In 2015, amateur divers found around 2,000 gold coins off the coast of the ancient port city of Caesarea dating to the Fatimid period in the 10th and 11th centuries.