Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed that a silver coin that was discovered last week and displayed on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Facebook page as a historic coin from the Second Temple period was not more than a souvenir for children that was planted at the initiative of the Israel Museum some 15 years ago.
The coin was discovered last week by a girl in the settlement of Halamish (Neve Tzuf) and was identified by Prof. Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University as a “half-shekel” coin from the time of the revolt at the end of the Second Temple period. The discovery of the coin was published in a number of media outlets in Hebrew and English, and as a result, the picture was posted on Netanyahu’s Facebook page, along with the caption: “A 2,000-year-old silver coin that was used during the Second Temple period as a half-shekel coin was discovered recently in Neve Tzuf, To the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land – to Jerusalem, to our Temple and to the settlements of Judea and Samaria. ”
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The discovery of the coin was published in a number of media outlets in Hebrew and English, and as a result, the picture was posted on Netanyahu’s Facebook page, along with the caption: “A 2,000-year-old silver coin that was used during the Second Temple period as a half-shekel coin was discovered recently in Neve Tzuf, To the deep connection between the people of Israel and its land – to Jerusalem, to our Temple and to the settlements of Judea and Samaria. ”
In recent days, the Israel Museum has found out that this is not an ancient coin, but rather a modern replica that was apparently minted 15 or 20 years ago at the initiative of the museum, as part of the training given to children. The original shape of the coin was minted only on one side of the souvenir, hundreds of copies of which were handed over as souvenirs for children at the time.
Jonathan Oriach, editor of Netanyahu’s Facebook page, told Haaretz that the post has since been removed from the page until the issue is clarified.
