Ancient Coin of Clay City

[-Ki-]

Found this story and thought id share, and its a great find i plan to follow up on....It reads
On a Sunday morning in 1952, a man named Cox of Clay City, Kentucky was on his way to church. As he walked across a freshly plowed field, near his home. The sun just happened to reflect on something shiny sticking hailfway from a clod of dirt. Cox picked up the object, then started to throw it away when at first glance the metal appeared to be only an old metal button, but instead he dropped it into his pocket.
After church he took it home washed it off and discovered it was a coin covered with odd inscriptions. It would have been about 14 inches under ground before it was plowed up.
Cox, a great biblical reader, recalled having seen some pictures of old hebrew coins in a biblical dictionary he owned. from those pictures he was able to establish definitely that the coin was struck in either the first or sencond Jewish revolt against the Romans, over 1850 years ago.
On the other side of the coin is a temple building with a six pointed star over the center. The coin is made of copper and between the size of an american half dollar and a quarter. The letters at the left of the temple are an abreviation for the name Shimeon (simon) the real name of the Jewish leaderof the last revolt in 133 A.D. On the opposite side is a semi circle of letters with what appears to be a shock of wheat in the center, and characters that read "year 2 of the freedom of isreal".

The age of the coin was positivly established by Dr. Ralph Marcus of the university of chicago a man reconized as the leading scholar on Hellenistic culture. He determined that the coin was struck by Simon Bar Kokba, the leader of the second revolt against the Romans in 133 A.D. This would be a good spot to check over with a metal detector, more coins are almost certainly there.........

 

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[-Ki-]

The era of that coin found in Clay City matches the Era of the Adena Indians, or the mound builders like some call them. It is possable that there could have been some sort of trading village located in the area of Clay City at one time. It is possable that those Indians had a trade built up with the country's of the middle east. That coin had to get here some how?

 

[swiftfan]

Well, it would indeed be an awsome place to look. Is there a record of which field to start?

 

[-Ki-]

Very cool a coin being that old being found here. Could be a very historic find, somewhat book worthy. There was indeed Indians that lived in this area all the way back in 133A.D. They were close to the Adena Culture or mound builders. In that time They had a huge city located where present day St. Louis is located, with temples built like the ones found in central America. They had trails that came through Ky, so there is the chance that a smaller village might have been located here in this area with evidence of more coins to be found. I hope to write a book about this soon.

Swiftfan...... I do know the guy that owns the property, he owns alot of land in the area. In the process of finding the exact area... That coin that was found is located in a safety deposit box at the bank here in town.

 

[Curtis]

Hi Ki!

We are running in the same circle my firend. I was there last spring and talked to the owner of the field according to Terry's encyclopedia...the guy owns the local museum you cannotmiss it its red and has a lot of old mill stones around it. He is a great guy to talk to. He knows more about Indian carvings and such than anyone I know. He used to do searches with a known archaeologist. Really enjoyed talking to him. He had given us permission over the phone through a relative of his...they then told us where the field was....we went spent 4 hours searching and digging, found some small pieces of what may have been silver solder. When we were leaving he came by and we visited...we may have been in the wrong field! ha ha He said that one was his and used to be a crap yard of sorts for old equipment. So check it out, but research and make sure you are in the correct field! ha ha I hope you find some more of those coins, there should be more than one!

 

[swiftfan]

Well I have a couple of weeks off right now, due to the weather, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know. I am climbing the walls here without that much to keep me busy..

-swiftfan-

 

[Curtis]

I hope we can do something soon. I too have cabin fever!

Are you and Ki and I still on for that search near old Fields this spring? Ki?

 

[Oroblanco]

HOLA amigos,
I hate being the 'wet blanket' but several "ancient Jewish coins" found in Kentucky were found to be modern fakes, when examined by an acknowledged expert in ancient coins of Israel, Yaakov Meshorer.

"Meshorer replied on March 3, 1978 that he had identified the coin as a forgery from the beginning of the 20th century, a replica made for sale to pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land. "

Pix of the Clay City coin

<from http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/barkokhb.htm which also has an excellent photo of the coin from Clay City KY>

Don't get the idea that I am saying no ancient coins are found in America, quite the opposite is the case, genuine Roman, Punic, Greek and Numidian coins have in fact been found in America over the years - just that no authentic ancient Jewish coins have yet been found. If you would like to see what the genuine article (ancient Jewish coin) looks like, here is one example

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find some REAL ancient coins!
Oroblanco

 

[Curtis]

Thanks Oroblanco!

That is what is so cool about these forums...people like you that have been into this for a long time and know your stuff are willing to share and help out us beginners. I have read countless posts you have made about Spanish and southwestern treasures! Thanks for sharing, it makes me want to venture out there and try the desert! One of the stories that intrigued me was the place where people would actually vanish right before the eyes of the companions! Please keep up the good work.

 

[Oroblanco]

HOLA amigo Curtis!
<BLUSH> Thank you for the very kind words - I am going to have a hard time getting that durned hat to fit now! I do agree with you too - folks like you are what makes this the greatest hobby or avocation, you "give something back" and try to help out our fellow treasure hunters. We have some really good people in our little 'family' - and I count you as one of the good ones!

I hope you will decide to head for our desert country at least once, yes it is a different world and people do tend to either hate it or love it, but for a treasure hunter or prospector, it can be the closest thing to 'heaven on Earth'!

Good luck and good hunting Curtis (and everyone reading this) I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
your friend in 'Dakota Territory'
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[-Ki-]

Hey Curtis,
Wow! it does seem like we both are running in circles...lol That's awesome that you have met Larry. He is a very good and close friend of my family. He is a wealth of knowledge, he knows, and can tell you just about anything having to do with the history of Ky. Larry is the person i always talk about consulting with some historic finds i make, i always enjoy hearing his story's of the past. This is certainly worth looking for, there may just be some more of these coins to be found, like i always say you never know until you look.

 

[-Ki-]

I hope we can do something soon. I too have cabin fever!

Are you and Ki and I still on for that search near old Fields this spring? Ki?

Swiftfan, Curtis... I'm ready!!! They will be plowing the fields in the next couple months coming up, maybe the end of next month. I would like to get together and possably look before and after the fields have been plowed. I think i have narrowed down the area where the main trading center of this village was. This would be a great place to start and then pan out from there, But yes I'm on board, and i hope Matt can come down as well. Really looking forward to it, we can also discuss some more info about the area while we look. -Ki-

 

[-Ki-]

Hey Oroblanco, I must say AWESOME PICS!!! I was wondering what these coins might look like, thanks for posting the pics. Kinda sucks that their thought to be fakes, but it still would be awesome to find one or more if there may be some still waiting to be found. Never know, my friend...
I see your from the Dakota territory, are you familiar with the "bad lands"? Its a place i look forward to coming to visit here in the near future, a good place for hidden treasure i hear, buried by outlaws, and both Indians as well.

Its always great to hear you chime in, and like Curtis i have enjoyed reading your posts on Tnet as well. Again thanks for sharing those pictures... Good luck on your adventures my friend -Ki-

 

[Oroblanco]

Hey Oroblanco, I must say AWESOME PICS!!! I was wondering what these coins might look like, thanks for posting the pics. Kinda sucks that their thought to be fakes, but it still would be awesome to find one or more if there may be some still waiting to be found. Never know, my friend...
I see your from the Dakota territory, are you familiar with the "bad lands"? Its a place i look forward to coming to visit here in the near future, a good place for hidden treasure i hear, buried by outlaws, and both Indians as well.

Its always great to hear you chime in, and like Curtis i have enjoyed reading your posts on Tnet as well. Again thanks for sharing those pictures... Good luck on your adventures my friend -Ki-

HOLA amigo and thank you for the kind words! The pix are not my own, borrowed from online but it is easy to see why a person would think them to be genuine as they do look very like the real thing. Even being 'fakes' they are still rare and a collectors item, there just are not a lot of them around so they are worth bucks! Besides, I am convinced that ancient visitors were in fact coming to America, and may even have buried an incredible treasure here. You never know what you will find!

As for the Dakota badlands - just my opinion of course but I think South Dakota is one of the best places in the USA for lost and buried treasures, if you do a little research into the stage and train robberies for instance the amounts of gold and silver that was taken and never found is (almost) staggering. Just for an example, right in my own little area here the Cheyenne - Deadwood stage was robbed (virtually daily) by a small gang of men; over $8000 in gold , at the old $20 per ounce price, was taken in this particular robbery (not the famous Canyon Springs Station robbery) and this was not even enough for them to send a posse after the robbers. This gold has never been found, and many of the robbers "died suddenly" dancing on the end of greased ropes strung from trees. The Badlands was especially a favorite outlaw hideout. Be sure to bring your camera too. I highly recommend picking up a copy of "Lost Gold" by Mildred Fielder, many stories of lost gold and secret mines in western SD and northeast WY.

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

 

[1320]

".....the sun just happened to reflect on something shiny....."

"...The coin is made of copper..."

Must have been a recent drop in my humble opinion.

Jamie

 

[-Ki-]

It is possable it was a recent drop. In talking to the people in question, they tell of the coin being about 14 inches under ground before the field had been plowed. This was also the first time the field in question had been plowed. This is a mystery, a better search needs to be done. More coins could be found.
Maybe some question will be answered soon, I'm currently researching this at the moment... That's for any info or ideas... -Ki- Sent from my iPhone