Palestinian doctor caught trying to smuggle 2,000-year-old Hebrew-inscribed coins for sale on Israeli black market

A Palestinian hospital doctor was caught by Israeli authorities while attempting to smuggle dozens of rare 2,000-year-old Hebrew coins through the Hizma Checkpoint in Judea, a few kilometers outside Jerusalem’s Old City, several weeks ago.

Israeli Border Police officers and customs inspectors seized the ancient coins, which were found in a Palestinian Authority–registered vehicle belonging to the doctor, during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

The coins date to the Jewish Second Temple period and the Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, and bear Hebrew inscriptions such as “Shekel of Israel,” “Jerusalem the Holy,” and “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel,” according to Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Inspector Ilan Hadad, who heads the IAA commerce department, explained that authorities believe the ancient coins were stolen and intended for sale on the black market in Israel.

“The origin of the coins is suspected to be antiquities looting carried out using metal detectors. Some of the coins were cleaned by unskilled hands, causing irreversible damage, while others, which may have been excavated recently, have not yet been cleaned."

"In my assessment, the coins were intended to be sold in Israel to parties engaged in the illegal antiquities trade or to collectors holding antiquities from dubious sources, and it is possible that some would have made their way to auction houses abroad. We intend to carry out further investigative actions in order to trace the source of the coins and their intended destination,” Hadad said.

It is a criminal offense in Israel to bring antiquities from Judea and Samaria into Israel without a formal permit.

Dr. Amir Ganor, director of the IAA Theft Prevention Unit, said the phenomenon of antiquities looting is growing. “We witness the expansion of this reprehensible phenomenon every day,” he said.

“Ancient coins from all historical periods are looted and detached from their context and from antiquities sites by individuals using sophisticated metal detectors.”

Ganor said the loss of context severely damages archaeological understanding: “It is important to understand that every ancient coin has tremendous value for the study of the country’s past when found in situ and within its archaeological context. Once a coin is looted and removed from its context, the ability to reconstruct the past through it is irreversibly lost.”

The use of metal detectors has become widespread and poorly regulated, Ganor explained. “In recent years, thousands of metal detectors have flooded the State of Israel without supervision. Some individuals are tempted to use these devices to search for treasures at antiquities sites – an illegal act prohibited by law.”

Ganor said the coins seized in the current case are believed to have been taken for profit.

“Unfortunately, the coins seized this week were, according to suspicion, looted for financial gain, removed from their context, and we will never know to which archaeological site or historical narrative they once belonged.”

He called for tighter restrictions on such equipment.

“The State of Israel must restrict by law the marketing and sale of metal detectors, which are used as destructive tools through which entire chapters of history are erased,” he said.

Israel’s Minister of Heritage, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, condemned the looting as an attempt to destroy the Jewish people’s ancient ties to their land. 

“Those who loot antiquities are attempting to destroy our identity and to deny our historical connection to this land. We are engaged in a fight against the illegal trade in antiquities and are working to bring the looters to justice. I commend the Border Police officers and the Inspectors of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit for their determined action," he said.

In April 2025, Israel Police discovered some 200 looted ancient artifacts, including coins, during a house search in the southern Israeli town of Dimona.