Cypriot Coin found at Ashdod
The rams that crossed the Sea
Persian period silver-plated coin minted at Salamis (Cyprus). Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.
A silver-plated Cypriot coin dating to the mid-fifth century BCE has been discovered on Ashdod Beach. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported that the coin was minted in the ancient city of Salamis on Cyprus and is the first example of this type to be found in Israel. The artifacts was found by the Director of the Ashdod Beaches Department while searching for a patron’s lost property.
The coin dates from the period when Cyprus formed part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE), although the island’s cities retained their own kings and mints. Salamis was the largest and wealthiest city on the east coast of Cyprus and occupied a strategic position controlling maritime routes across the eastern Mediterranean.
The straight-line distance from Salamis to Ashdod is approximately 205 miles. The discovery of a Salaminian coin on Israel’s coast attests to the extensive sea trade that linked Cyprus with the Levant in antiquity. Merchant vessels routinely crossed this stretch of sea, carrying metals, timber, wine, olive oil, and luxury goods.
Coin expert Yanniv David Levy with the 2500 year old coin. Photo: Shai Halevi, Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.
According to numismatist Yanniv David Levy, the coin weighs around .39 ounces and belongs to the type known as a siglos. Although this coin initially appeared to be solid silver, closer examination revealed that it has a base-metal core and is only plated with silver. On Cyprus, famous for its copper deposits as far back as the Bronze Age, silver was more scarce.
During periods of silver shortage, Cypriot mints occasionally produced plated coins that maintained the appearance and accepted value of silver currency while reducing the amount of precious metal. Such artifacts demonstrate that ancient monetary systems depended not only on the intrinsic value of the metal but also on public confidence in the authority who issued the coins.
Especially in the Levant, large silver coins were frequently cut into smaller pieces—called “hacksilver”—for everyday purchases. Levy reports: “Coins of this size and value from the Persian period are rare altogether in the archaeological record…Usually, silver coins of this size were not preserved intact. Over time, they were cut into small pieces, for use as local trade currency. Furthermore, evidence of such use is known mainly from inland sites in Israel. Therefore, the discovery of a complete coin from the coastal area, is thus unusual on all accounts, and of special historical importance.”
The coin’s imagery is equally intriguing. One face depicts a reclining ram, while the reverse shows a ram’s head within a square, accompanied by a vertical laurel branch and three characters written in the Cypriot syllabic script. The laurel branch represents a distinctly Greek element, probably symbolizing victory, legitimacy, or the cult of Apollo, whose worship was widespread on Cyprus.
The ram served as the civic and dynastic emblem of Salamis. On this coin, it likely proclaims the identity and authority of the local kingdom. This artifact suggests that, although politically subordinate to the Achaemenid Empire, the island’s kingdoms continued to express local identity through Greek artistic styles, indigenous writing, and their own royal symbols.
Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.
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