Unparalleled find – a Badge, a Skull, and a 2000-year-old Coin.

Description

Excerpt:

The wet blade made a long continuous ‘slit’ sound as he sliced through the skin and flesh. The tummy opened. The well-skilled calloused hand reached inside the warm body to remove the intestines. It was still warm. He stopped. The eyes of the fisherman widened.

‘What! What is in here?’

Carefully, the brown tanned and sun-spotted hand grabbed the bizarre shaped objects – still lodged in the intestines. Carefully, he pulled it out.

‘Could this be the find of a lifetime?’

As the inky-grey gel mixed with dark-red clotted blood, the brain-shaped intestines popped out. The lungs, heart, and other organs followed – sliding out sideways.

He ripped through the intestines, now lying on the table. The odd-looking objects were uncovered. It stared at them.

‘There is a cross-shaped object and some bones! Shouted his friend. He is looking over the muscly fisherman’s strong shoulder.

‘I can’t believe my eyes!’ announced the perplexed freshwater fisherman. His arm is reaching deeper into the bloody belly of the fish. More of the intestines slid out.

Tyre shekel struck 103/102 BC at Tyre. A full shekel would provide the tax payment for Peter (1/2) and Jesus (1/2). The obverse depicts the god Melquart, a Tyrian version of Herakles, and the reverse depicts an eagle with a club to the left. The club is a mintmark of Tyre. The reverse inscription, in Greek, contains the date and proclaims, “[money of] Tyre, the Holy and Inviolable.” (photo courtesy cngcoins.com). Link: http://numismatics.org/pocketchange/fishsmouth/