Last September, US authorities returned to Israel a Jewish silver coin dating from the First Jewish-Roman War. It is an “extremely rare” piece dating back 2,000 years and, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, is worth the equivalent of one million dollars.
This important piece was stolen in 2002 by a cell of antiquities thieves who had found a hoard of coins from the time of the Great Revolt near the Elah Valley in central Israel. According to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), the coin was offered at several auctions in the United States, after being smuggled via Jordan and the United Kingdom.
The coin, a silver quarter shekel, was found in 2017, when US Homeland Security agents seized it in Denver, Colorado, before it was sold. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office then held the item until the return ceremony that took place on 12 September.