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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Curtis, post: 24703841, member: 26430&quot;]Thanks for sharing. The story links the Alexander Dekadrachm Hoard (here&#039;s <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1627626/lifestyle" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1627626/lifestyle" rel="nofollow">a news story</a>) that was dispersed at major auction houses a few years ago. (They link the BBS documentary, which is well worth watching, whatever your opinions on relevant policy.)</p><p><br /></p><p>I try to be conscious of where coins come from (i.e., in recent decades) if they&#039;re from this region or other political sensitive/contested regions. I do have a couple of coins that were struck and/or found in this region. (The AR fractions don&#039;t seem to have traveled but stayed local.)</p><p><br /></p><p>This one comes from the Samaria Hoard, published in 1991 by Meshorer &amp; Qedar:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1578036[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><font size="4"><b>&quot;Middle Levantine&quot; Series. Silver Obol or &quot;Ma&#039;eh&quot; </b>(8mm, 0.57 g, 12h). Struck in Samaria, c. 4th cent. BCE.</font></p><p><font size="4"><b>Obv:</b> Laureate male head right with light beard; dotted border. </font></p><p><font size="4"><b>Rev:</b> Female head left with headdress (and earring?); legend off flan: <i>šmryn</i> (see Sofaer 58).</font></p><p><font size="4"><b>Refs:</b> Meshorer &amp; Qedar (1991) 71 = Samaria Hoard 165 = Athena Fund II 972 (this coin illustrated); Meshorer &amp; Qedar (1999) 187 = Wyssmann (2019) Spec. i (this coin cited).</font></p><p><b><font size="4">Prov:</font></b><font size="4"> Ex-Samaria Hoard (before 1990, CH 8.587 = CH 9.413), No. 165; Athena Fund Sale (Part II, Sotheby&#039;s, 27 Oct 1993), Lot 972; Stack&#039;s (3-4 Dec 1996), Lot 708 (part); Jay M. Galst (1950-2020) Collection (his tag illustrated); Triton XXV Online Session (11 Jan 2022), Lot 6169.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>It was probably found in Samaria in the 1980s. Parts were acquired by the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the full hoard was published by a Chief Curator &amp; Archaeologist with the IAA (i.e., Meshorer), but I&#039;m not 100% sure of the legal status of the ones that ended up in private hands.</p><p><br /></p><p>People have occasionally suggested it is another portion of the similar 1968 Nablus Hoard -- though that doesn&#039;t seem right in my reading -- which was apparently uncovered in the West Bank after the Six Days War.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A lot of our coins were struck or tend to be found in regions where governments make claims to them. I am more sympathetic to some countries&#039; claims than to others&#039;. But I don&#039;t think I would enjoy owning a coin knowing that Gaza authorities believed it was recently looted. The minimal recompense received by the locals interviewed for the BBS documentary about the Alexander Dekadrachms would make me feel even worse about it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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