Left: Symbols of the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan (IAA Photo by Samuel Magal) Right:
Portrait of the emperor “Deified Augustus” (IAA photo by Shai Halevy)

Sometimes keeping your head down can have its advantages.  Take for example, Laurie Rimon the Israeli hiker who discovered an extremely rare Roman coin while hiking in the Galilee near Tabghe, where the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes is said to have taken place.

The coin, which is in very good condition and estimated to be worth $5 million, is so rare that only one other like it has ever been discovered.

It was just lying there in the grass as if someone had dropped it (2,000 years ago). Rimon, who is from a kibbutz in the north of the country, promptly turned it over to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Laurie Rimon with the gold Roman coin.  (IAA photo by Samuel Magal)

“It was not easy parting with the coin.  After all, it is not every day one discovers such an amazing object, but I hope I will see it displayed in a museum in the near future,” Rimon said of her find, which bears the image of Roman emperor Augustus, Caesar’s heir and founder of the Roman Empire.

Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14, during the time of Yeshua (Jesus).  The Roman coin was minted by Emperor Trajan in AD 107 and refers to “Divus Augustus” or the “divine” Augustus.  IAA numismatist (currency expert) Danny Syon says that Augustus was considered to be a god following his death.

The question arises as to how such a high-valued coin could have appeared in the eastern Galilee.  Syon speculates that it may have been part of a payment to a Roman soldier stationed there during the Bar Kochba Jewish revolt (AD 132–135).

The only other coin of the same minting yet discovered is part of the collection at the British Museum.  (CNN) 

Ramon will be awarded a certificate of appreciation of good citizenship.