Peter Edwards was gifted the Spanish coin by his grandfather in the 1950s in Leeds, England
Credit: Leeds City Council
NEED TO KNOW
- A coin donated to a museum in England has been found to be over 2000 years old
- The money was used to pay for a bus ride in Leeds in the 1950s, before it was gifted to Peter Edwards by his grandfather, who worked for Leeds City Transport
- The ancient coin was deemed “rare” and “mysterious” by Leeds Museums and Galleries
A coin over 2,000 years old has been revealed in England.
On Monday, March 9, Leeds City Council shared in a press release that a man had donated the ancient coin, which was once used to pay for bus rides in the city of Leeds, to the Leeds Museums and Galleries.
According to the release, the antique was originally produced by “Carthaginians, part of the Phoenician culture, in the Spanish city of Cadiz during the 1st century BC.”
The coin was then given to a bus driver in the 1950s, who at the time handed it to James Edwards, a former chief cashier who counted the money at Leeds City Transport.
Edwards would count the money taken by bus and tram drivers at the end of the day, but he’d take home any coins that were foreign or fake and give them to his grandson Peter Edwards.
Credit: Leeds City Council
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“My grandfather would come across coins which were not British and put them to one side, and when I went to his house, he would hand me a few,” the now 77-year-old Peter said in a statement.
Credit: Leeds City Council
“It was not long after the war, so I imagine soldiers returned with coins from countries they had been sent to,” he added. “Neither of us were coin collectors but we were fascinated by their origin and imagery – to me they were treasure.”
After researching, Peter was able to find out that the coin from his grandfather originated from a Carthaginian settlement on the Spanish coast.
“On one side it bears the face of the god Melqart, resembling the Greek hero Herakles and wearing his famed lionskin headdress,” the release read. “At that time, some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders.”
Peter decided to donate the coin to Leeds Museums and Galleries thanks to its “remarkable age and significance.”
“The coin always fascinated me because it was hard to decipher where it came from,” he said.
“My first thought when I found out its origin was that I would like to return it to an institute where it could be studied by all, and Leeds Museums and Galleries kindly offered to give it a good home," he added. “My grandfather would be proud to know, as I am, that the coin is coming back to Leeds. However, how it got there will always be a mystery."
The coin will be homed at Leeds Discovery Centre among other historic coins and currencies.
“It’s incredible to imagine how this tiny piece of history created by an ancient civilisation thousands of years ago has somehow made its way to Leeds and into our collection,” Councillor Salma Arif said.
"Museums like ours are not just about preserving objects, they’re also about telling stories like this one and inspiring visitors to think about the history that’s all around us, sometimes in the most unlikely of places," Arif added.
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