The Financial Crimes Unit of the Israel Police's 443 Major Crimes Unit have arrested four suspects after busting a counterfeiting operation that was producing fake Israeli coinage, the police announced Tuesday.

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For a few months, the Financial Crimes Unit has been conducting an undercover investigation of the operation, which was based in Ashdod. The owner of a local factory is suspected of cooperating with three other suspects to convert the facility into a counterfeiting operation making fake five-shekel and 10-shekel coins.

Police also suspect that one of the suspects used numerous bank accounts to launder over 5 million shekels ($1.6 million).

Early Tuesday morning, detectives from the Financial Crimes Unit, along with representatives of the Bank of Israel's Currency Department, raided the factory and confiscated dozens of loose five-shekel and 10-shekel coins, raw materials, printing blocks, and sophisticated machines that were apparently used to produce the counterfeit coins.

During the raid, police arrested two individuals who were allegedly caught red-handed in the act of counterfeiting the coins. Raids on some of the suspects' homes resulted in more counterfeit coins being confiscated.

The four suspects face charges of producing counterfeit currency; installing or owning tools to produce counterfeit currency; fraudulent receipts of goods; and tax evasion and money laundering. They were brought before the Magistrates Court in Rishon Lezion Tuesday morning for a remand hearing, at which it was decided to remand three of the suspects until Dec. 9 and one until Dec. 8.

The Bank of Israel said it "congratulates the Israel Police and the 443 Major Crimes Unit's Financial Crimes Unit on the successful operation that helped considerably in the war against counterfeiting. This operation once again shows the importance of close cooperation between the Israel Police and the Bank of Israel. Cooperation will continue in order to battle counterfeiting, which must be contained.

The Bank of Israel urged the public to check to see that banknotes bore the Bank of Israel's watermark, information about which is available on the Bank of Israel website.

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Inspectors from the Antiquities Robbery Prevention Unit in the Israel Antiquities Authority have retrieved a collection of over 6,000 ancient coins that were being illegally sold.

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After scouring digital platforms to track down the coins, members of the unit pinned their suspicions on the owner of a jewelry store in Ashkelon whom they believed to be selling the coins in violation of the country's antiquities laws.

'Illegal trade in antiquities comprises a critical link in the chain that feeds off antiquities theft. Antiquities theft strikes an irreversible blow to the country's ancient sites,' says IAA's national inspector for trading Ilan Hadad

When the seller's home and business were raided, officials found thousands of coins from various eras that were intended for sale or trade. Inspectors also found metal implements and digging equipment that they suspect the seller used to steal artifacts from archaeological excavations.

The suspect was detained and questioned by inspectors from the Robberies Prevention Unit, who will then hand the case over to the Attorney General for prosecution.

The recovered coins have been sent to IAA numismatists to be identified and dated.

Ilan Hadad, national inspector for trading at the IAA, explained that "Illegal trade in antiquities comprises a critical link in the chain that feeds off antiquities theft. Antiquities theft strikes an irreversible blow to the country's ancient sites.

"The robbers, who dig at archaeological sites, destroying them out of greed, cut the antiquities off from their archaeological context and erase entire chapters of the history of the Land of Israel. These are stories that will now never be told," Hadad said.

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An archaeological survey in the northeast of the Binyamin Region conducted by the Martin Szuz Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University has turned up two rare coins at two adjacent sites.

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One coin, discovered at Khirbet Jabaat, dates back to the Jewish revolt against the Romans and was minted in the year 67 CE. One side of the coin bears a depiction of a grape leaf and the Hebrew inscription "Herut Zion" (Freedom for Zion), while the other side is imprinted with a cup and the inscription "Year Two." The coin is the latest Second Temple-Era find unearthed at this site, which includes mikvehs, secret tunnels, stone vessels, and burial caves.

The second coin, excavated at a site in the cliffs of Wadi Rashash, caused significant excitement among the archaeologists.

Dr. Dvir Raviv, who is directing the survey, explained that the coin was the first tangible evidence that the area in question had been under the administrative control of Bar Kochba, and might even testify to the existence of a Jewish community in the region until 134-135 CE, despite the prevailing belief that all Jewish communities to the north of Jerusalem were razed in the great revolt of the 7^th decade CE and never resurrected.

One side of the coin from Wadi Rashash, which is believed to have been minted in 134-135 CE, is imprinted with a palm frond surrounded by a wreath, which itself is surrounded by the Hebrew inscription "LeHerut Yerushalayim" (To the Liberation of Jerualem). The other side depicts musical instruments, possibly a harp, and the name "Shimon" – the first name of the leader of the revolt against the Romans, Shimon Ben Kosevah, better known as Shimon Bar Kochba.

The Binyamin Regional Council and the grassroots heritage preservation organization Shomrim al Hanetzach (Preserving Eternity) said in response to the discoveries that the area is full of archaeological remains and antiquities, which are being robbed and destroyed by local Arabs. The council and the organization called on the government to adopt a national emergency plan to save the sites.

Binyamin Regional Council chairman Yisrael Gantz said: "We have a national obligation to preserve these precious finds that tie us to this place. The Israeli government must take responsibility for its heritage and prevent ethno-religious robberies and vandalism."

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Israeli archeologists and conservationists working in Jerusalem's Old City have found a rare silver coin, believed to have been used during the pilgrim festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot to pay the Temple tax, the Tower of David Museum announced on Monday.

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The ancient artifact known as the Tyre coin, or the Tyrian shekel, was first unearthed in the 1980s, subsequently lost, and recently found again during restoration and conservation work carried out by the museum at the 2000-year-old citadel.

The Tyrian shekel was produced from 125 BCE-70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple.

Although mentions of the Tyrian shekel are frequently found in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts, only few of these coins have been found.

One side of the coin is impressed with an image representing the god of the Phoenician city Tyre, while the other bears the imprint of an eagle.

The museum plans to display the coin as part of its new permanent exhibition, to be unveiled next year.

"At this holiday time, we are grateful for this unique opportunity to physically preserve the walls and towers of this ancient site – that stood during the time of the Second Temple thousands of years ago, helping to preserve and conserve the site so that it continues to be a beacon in Jerusalem for future generations to come," said Eilat Lieber, director and chief curator of the Tower of David Museum, quoted by the Times of Israel.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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IDF Armored Corps soldier Ido Gardi recently received a glimpse into the world of archaeology when he stumbled upon a rare 1,800-year-old coin during a training exercise, the Israel Antiquities Authority reported in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

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The coin dates to 158-159 CE and was minted in the city of Geva. It joins eleven such coins in the National Treasures Department collection.

"All the coins were found in northern Israel. This coin was found closest to the place where they were minted," head of the Israel Antiquities Authority's Numismatics Department Dr. Donald Tzvi Ariel said. 

The coin bears the head of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled from 138–161 CE, on one side, and the Phrygian moon god, Men, on the other. 

"The coin discovered is one of the municipal coins minted in the city of Geva," lecturer in classical archaeology at Bar-Ilan University's Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology Dr. Avner Ecker explained, adding that in Roman times, cities were allowed to mint their own coins. 

"The year marked on the coin is the year when the municipal council was evidently established, and its citizens were allowed self-government under the Roman Empire. Geva is an ancient settlement, referred to by Josephus as a town located on the foothills at the edge of the Jezreel Valley. Herod [the Great] settled his cavalry forces there," Ecker added.

Gardi reported his find to the National Treasures Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority and received a good citizenship commendation.  

"Antiquities are national treasures," inspector for the Antiquities Authority Northern District's robbery prevention unit Nir Distelfeld said. 

While antiquities hunting is against the law, anyone who stumbles against an ancient artifact must report it, Distelfeld continued. 

"Ido Gardi demonstrated exemplary civic behavior, and we hope that he will act as an example for others who discover ancient finds," Distelfeld observed. 

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Archaeologists excavating an ancient manufacturing area that was active for hundreds of years were surprised to find a small clay vessel containing gold coins from the 9^th century CE. Researchers currently think that the treasure might have belonged to a potter.

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"All of I sudden I heard shouting," says Liat Nadav-Ziv, who is directing the dig with Dr. Eli Haddad of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"I went out and saw Mark Mullokandov, a veteran IAA archaeologist, running toward the camp, all excited. We followed him and were surprised to see the treasure," she said.

Dr. Robert Cole, an IAA numismatics expert, gave the coins the once-over and the initial inspection indicates that they date to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9^th century. The coins include one gold dinar of the Caliph Harun a-Rashid.

Video: Galit Tal / IAA

"The trove contains coins that we rarely see here in Israel. They are gold dinars from the Aghlabid dynasty – who ruled North Africa on behalf of the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad. This is undoubtedly a Hanukkah present for us," Cole said.

Other discoveries at the dig, which is located southeast of Tel Yavne, include a "field of furnaces" that operated around the end of the Byzantine and early Islamic era, from the 7^th century CE to the 9^th century CE. These furnaces were used to make jugs, cooking pots, and bowls, all to be sold commercially. The gold coins were discovered inside a tiny jug that rested at the mouth of one of the furnaces. Archaeologists think they might have been payment for one of the potters, who used the jug as his personal cash register.

On the other side of the Tel Yavne site, the dig has uncovered the remnants of a large industrial facility dating back to the Persian Era (5^th-4^th centuries BCE) that was apparently used to make wine.

Haddad explained that an initial examination of the findings had revealed traces of grape seeds.

"The size of the compartments and the number of them indicate that wine was manufactured in commercial quantities, much more than would be needed to meet local demand of the residents of ancient Yavne," he observed.

The Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out the Yavne dig as part of preparations to lay the groundwork for a new residential neighborhood.

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Reut Vilf of the ‎City of David Foundation said the ‎coin, discovered ‎in the sewage system ‎running ‎beneath ancient ‎Jerusalem, dates back to the year 69 ‎C.E. – the fourth year ‎of the Jewish revolt against ‎Rome and the year in ‎which the rebels despaired.‎

According to Israeli media reports, a cache of ‎bronze coins from that time was found in 2014 in a ‎village near Jerusalem, and more were unearthed in a ‎cave by the Temple Mount in 2018, from the second and ‎fourth years of the rebellion.‎

The coin found last week bears an inscription ‎ancient Hebrew lettering reading "For the Redemption ‎of Zion" and a depiction of a chalice. ‎

Its other side depicts the Four Species used in ‎the Sukkot holiday – the citron fruit, palm frond, and myrtle and willow branches – and the words "Year Four," ‎referring to the final year of rebellion against the ‎Romans.‎

‎"The coin was found exactly in the same place that ‎Jews had been hiding in the drainage channel under ‎the street," Vilf noted. Evidence of the rebels' ‎attempt to hide under the city includes intact oil ‎lamps and ceramic pots that were found whole in the ‎sewer itself.‎

Interpreting the inscription on the coin, she said, ‎‎"Freedom is an immediate thing, while redemption is ‎a process. It could attest to their understanding ‎that the end was near."‎

Eli Shukron, an archaeologist with the Israel ‎Antiquities Authority, said that in all likelihood, ‎the coin could have fallen into the drainage system ‎through cracks of the stone-paved road.

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