A rare “extremely well-preserved” 1850-year-old bronze coin depicting the Roman moon goddess Luna has been discovered off the coast of Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said.
The piece with the portrait of the goddess Luna under the zodiacal sign of Cancer on one side and the head of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius on the other, was found in front of the coastal city of Haifa, in the north of the country.
“This is the first time such a piece has been found off the coast of Israel,” Jacob Sharvit, director of the Department of Marine Archeology at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement released on Monday.
The object was in “small loot”, along with other pieces, Sharvit told AFP on Tuesday, adding that the circumstances of the discovery indicate that there was a shipwreck nearby.
These pieces “have been extremely well preserved. Some are indeed very rare, and their discovery completes parts of the historical puzzle of the country’s past,” added Sharvit.
The Roman goddess coin was minted under the mandate of Antoninus Pius (AD 138-161) in Alexandria, Egypt, according to the IAA.
The piece bears the inscription “year eight”, corresponding to the eighth year of the emperor’s reign, marking the apogee of the “Pax Romana”, a period of relative calm in the Roman Empire.
Unlike his predecessors, Antonino Pio was not a soldier and never participated in battles.
“It built magnificent temples, theaters, mausoleums and promoted science and philosophy,” the IAA concluded.
