Coins as Bright as the Day they were Minted

In the early 2000s during excavations by Dr. Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, hundreds of gold coins were discovered, minted by Emperor Heraclius in 613, a year before the Persian conquest. The coins were found in a large building from the Byzantine period that was destroyed in 614.

The coins were apparently minted in Jerusalem and preserved in the large structure, but never used. They were buried when the building was destroyed, and were only discovered by the archaeologists.