Extremely (?) rare “DIVUS AVGUSTUS” Aureus m by Trajan found in eastern Galilee

[L.C.Sulla]

Extremely (?) rare “DIVUS AVGUSTUS” Aureus minted by Trajan found in the eastern Galilee
According to this article (in Hebrew, but the more interested things said can be summarized quite in short) a group of hikers have come across this super rare coin in a field in a location only mentioned as “Eastern Galilee – Israel”. (According to the pictures, showing some Basalt rocks, if indeed the location is the Galilee – and not the nearby Golan plateau – it should be one of a few limited locations). The coin was handed to the authorities and the Archaeologists interviewed claims it is the 2nd known specimen of this type – the only other one known is in the British museums collection (plus some other historic assumptions are given, which are quite vague to my opinion).
Haven’t been able to find this type of coin in any catalog, though I did not look for too long…

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4777895,00.html

[Pekka K]

Woytek 855, 5 coins known.

Pekka K

[Vladislav D]

http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4188

[okidoki]

http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4188

thx for sharing 

[timka]

http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4188

oh... what a generous act to return this coin to the authorities...this lady is sacred for me... really amazing story.. thank you for sharing!

[Sam]

There is no joy and happiness in something you did not earn ,  pay , or work for.

[Optimo Principi]

I notice this newly discovered Israel example is a double die-match for the other example in the British Museum. Here is a comparison I made...

[areich]

Woytek 855, 5 coins known.

Pekka K

I love either your dry humour or your helpfulness, whatever it was that caused this comment. 

[okidoki]

at first

rare ?
855.5 coins known lol

[Sam]

at first

rare ?
855.5 coins known lol

855,5
So , that makes it  very very rare      
Or    rare a lot  

Nice one Pekka .  It goes even perfect , with the nice laughing child icon of yours .

[L.C.Sulla]

http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4188

oh... what a generous act to return this coin to the authorities...this lady is sacred for me... really amazing story.. thank you for sharing!

The law in Israel is strict and clear - its a property of the state. From the details of the article, and the photos, you may assume these are elderly "old school"  type of people who take pride in "doing the right thing". She's mentioned to be a member of a near by community that still preserve some hard core Socialist values in terms of personal property so I assume its more exciting for her to be the star of a mini/local archaeological sensation then to start planning of how to find the right dealer outside the country, make up the right story etc. Etc. - and for a coin that on first sight might look as if worth only several thousands of US$. 

[curtislclay]

Six specimens were previously known, according to Woytek's Trajan and Komnick's Restitutionsmünzen.

Five known to Komnick with pictures, all from the same pair of dies: BM, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Naples. Plus one reported to be in Turin, but no picture available.

The new specimen is from the same dies as the BM's, as Kained but Able points out. So it is also from the same dies as the other four specimens of which pictures are available.