The two coins were rescued from rubble discarded by Islamic Wakf officials from their illegal excavations on the Temple Mount. The rubble is carefully sifted by two archeologists and a team of volunteers at a Jerusalem national park.
One coin, a silver half-shekel, was apparently minted on the Temple Mount itself by Temple authorities in the first year of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66-67 CE, said Bar-Ilan University Professor Gabriel Barkay, who is leading the sifting operation.
One side of the coin, which was found by a 14-year-old volunteer, shows a branch with three pomegranates, and the inscription "Holy Jerusalem"; the other side bears a chalice from the First Temple and says "Half-Shekel."
The second coin was minted during the Jewish rebellion against the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV of the Chanukah story.
More details in articles from the Jerusalem Post (http://tinyurl.com/4eur9b), Arutz Sheva (http://tinyurl.com/95hqdq) and the web site of The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation (http://tinyurl.com/a7g2ev). The salvage operation site also provides information about how you can support its efforts to recover antiquities from the Temple Mount.
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