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At first glance, one might never expect this shekel could offer such a rich combination of history and mystery, and spending the semester researching it has been a truly enriching experience. The symbols and slogans on the shekel represent a war fought with passion, a war for freedom with a bloody and unfortunate end. A careful analysis of the shekel itself can teach you how it was made--the particular way it was struck--and allows you to speculate about the rigors it has since endured.
One learns most about the coin itself, however, if one is able to compare it to similar coins. This enables careful examination of the intricacies unique to the coin so that one can see the differences between various dies and between the craftsmanship of different moneyers and can examine the authenticity of the artifact. In a comparison to an array of other Year Three shekels, we determined that USC's coin is very likely authentic and was stamped with a fairly rare and unique reverse die. In fact, searching through pictures of many similar coins, I was only able to find one struck with a similar reverse die. Interestingly, both coins have been stamped with the same obverse die, so if their reverses are indeed the same, they were likely minted together. Most amazing is that we may have found two artifacts made together and separated almost 2000 years ago, sending a breath of life into a place in time lost so long ago . . .
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