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Pulitzer Prize-Winning Writer Charles Krauthammer...
Ancient Judean shekel coin sells for $1.1 million at auction
Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.
Ancient Judean shekel coin sells for $1.1 million at auction
The Year 1 prototype silver shekel from A.D. 66 was bought Thursday night at Heritage Auctions by an East Coast collector.
It is one of only two known Year 1 prototype silver shekels. The other one is in the collection of the Israel Museum.
It's the first silver coin struck by Jewish forces revolting against Roman rule in the first century. It features an image of a ritual chalice and three pomegranates.
Heritage says it's the highest price for any Judean coin paid at auction.
The reverse side of the Year 1 prototype silver shekel sold Thursday in New York.
It's one of 2,200 ancient Judean coins from the Shoshana Collection assembled by a Los Angeles-area collector. He bought it at a 1991 auction for more than $240,000.