This was just a dirt-cheap eye-candy acquisition. Israel made a series of these medals in 1965, commemorating various cities and ancient coins. It's a goodly sized chunk of tombac at 45mm, 40g. Can anyone spot the curious mistake on this piece?
No, those types occasionally had dotted borders. The Nabataean copy is fine, although you'll never see an original with that much detail. I'll give you a hint: the original coins were minted by Aretas IV.
Bingo! Aretas IV ruled from 9 BC (or BCE as non-Christians prefer). The date should read 9 BCE - 40 CE. The chronology of Nabataean kings was well-established by the time this medal was made in 1965.
that's neat JA, i've seen the israeli coin with the widows mite on it also. a coin on a coin...pretty neat, if they put a coin on a coin that has a coin on it...it will open a trans-deminsional wormhole.
