Rare gold coin of Napoleon III found in Jaffa dig

May 16, 2010, 13:05 GMT

Tel Aviv - Archaeologists in Jaffa have uncovered a rare gold coin bearing the likeness of French Emperor Napoleon III, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Sunday.

The ten franc coin was minted in Paris in 1856 and is made almost completely of pure gold (93%), the IAA said in a statement.

Napoleon III, a nephew of Bonaparte, was elected President of the French Republic in 1848, but in 1852 had himself declared emperor.

He was captured in September 1870 at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian war, and deposed two days later. He died in exile in England in 1873.

According to IAA numismatist Robert Kool, the discovery of gold coins during archaeological excavations is extremely rare.

'This is the first time that such a coin was found in an excavation in Jaffa,' he said. '

'However, we know that European gold coins were common in the Ottoman Empire which suffered a severe financial crisis in the late nineteenth century. Documents and coins that were found in the past in Tel Aviv and Beersheba attest to the popularity of European gold, especially in remote provinces like Palestine, until the end of the First World War,' he said.

Israel's antiquities law states that every site slated for construction first be examined for archaeological remains, and an excavation be carried out if necessary.

In addition to the Napoleon III coin, the excavations in Jaffa uncovered other coins from different periods, pottery fragments dating from Biblical times until the Late Ottoman period, and the foundations of a building from the Late Ottoman period.