'Extremely rare' 2,500-year-old broken silver coin unearthed near Jerusalem

The coin dates from the sixth or fifth centuries B.C. It was deliberately broken in two, probably in the fourth century B.C. to use each half as the value of its weight in silver.

A broken 2,500-year-old silver coin unearthed near Jerusalem is rare evidence that early currency was used in ancient Judea, according to archaeologists.

It's one of only a handful of coins of this age — made in the sixth or fifth century B.C., when Judea was under the control of the Achaemenid Persians — that establish their very early use in the Holy Land.