2000 Gold Coins - An amateur scuba diving club has discovered the largest treasure trove of gold coins ever unearthed in Israel, off the Mediterranean coast.
"The largest treasure of gold coins discovered in Israel was found in recent weeks on the seabed in the ancient harbor in Caesarea," a statement from the Israeli Antiquities Authority read.
The members of the diving club in the Roman-era port found the trove on the seabed after winter storm shifted the sands off the coast of Caesarea.
Officials say the gold coins, which weigh about 20 pounds and are around 2,000 pieces, are about 1,000-years-old. They were in use during the reign of the Fatimid Caliphate, whose kingdom spanned the Middle East and North Africa from 909 to 1171.
Reports indicate that the find, which authorities have described as priceless, would have gone unnoticed, after divers thought they had only stumbled on a toy coin.
"At first they thought they had spotted a toy coin from a game it was only after they understood the coin was the real thing they collected several coins and quickly returned to the shore to inform the director of the five club about their find," an official statement read.
According to Kobi Sharvit, director of the marine archaeology unit at the Israel Antiquities Authority, excavations would be carried out in the area where the gold coins were discovered so as to gain a better understanding of its origin.
"There is probably a shipwreck there of an official treasury boat which was on it's way to the central government in Egypt with taxes that has been collected," Sharvit said.
"Perhaps the treasure of coins was meant to pay the salaries of the Fatimid military garrison which was stationed in Caesarea and protected the city."
"Another theory is that the treasure was money belonging to a large merchant ship that traded with the coastal cities and the port on the Mediterranean Sea and sank there."
