Archaeologists excavating the City of David in Jerusalem uncovered a rare 2,300-year-old gold coin. The obverse bears the profile of Queen Berenice II of Ptolemaic Egypt. It is a quarter drachma 99.3% gold and dates to 246–241 B.C. Only 20 of these coins are known.
The coin displays Berenice wearing a diadem veil and a necklace around her neck. The reverse features a full cornucopia, an ancient symbol of prosperity and fertility with two stars beneath it, surrounded by the Greek words “of Queen Berenice.” Berenice II (born c. 269—died 221 bc) was the daughter of Magas, king of Cyrene (modern Libya), whose marriage to Ptolemy III Euergetes reunited her country with Egypt. The coin is the only one of it’s kind ever discovered outside Egypt. Archaeologists suggest it was minted in Alexandria as a reward for soldiers who fought in the Third Syrian War (246-41 BC).
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