Strange Coin Used on U.K. Bus Turns Out to Be 2,000-Year-Old Relic

"An enigmatic coin that someone used to board a British bus seven decades ago is now entering the collection of the Leeds Discovery Centre, following the revelation that it's a bit of 2,000 year old currency from the former Carthaginian trading settlement of Gadir, in modern-day Cádiz, Spain-one of Europe's longest-inhabited cities, settled by Phoenicians around 1,100 B.C.E."

"Seventy-seven-year old Peter Edwards has owned this coin since he was a boy. He got it from his grandfather, James Edwards, who served as a chief cashier with Leeds City Transport in the 1950s, sorting foreign and otherwise unusable tender out from bus and tram fares paid at the end of each day."

"The coin's reverse side is nearly clear, featuring worn Phoenician script reading "minted in Agadir," positioned above two tuna fish, likely meant as an ode to the maritime city's productive fishing industry. The coin's obverse is meant to feature a portrait of Melqart, patron deity to the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, in modern day Lebanon."

"Some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders. Here, Melqart wears lion-skin headdress in a little impersonation of the Greek hero Herakles, also known as Hercules."

A bronze coin dating back approximately 2,000 years to Gadir, a Carthaginian settlement in modern-day Cádiz, Spain, was used as bus fare in Leeds during the 1950s. Peter Edwards, now 77, inherited the coin from his grandfather James Edwards, who worked as a chief cashier for Leeds City Transport and collected unusual currency from daily fares. After decades of uncertainty about its origins, Edwards investigated the coin's history and discovered it was ancient Phoenician currency. Leeds Museums and Galleries confirmed the identification. The coin features Phoenician script reading "minted in Agadir" with two tuna fish on the reverse, referencing the maritime city's fishing industry. The obverse depicts Melqart, the patron deity of Tyre, wearing a lion-skin headdress similar to the Greek hero Hercules, reflecting Phoenician adoption of Greek imagery to appeal to traders.

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