An unlooted wealth of coins, more than 6,200, reflects the prosperity that Gamla’s olive-oil business brought to the city, and their great variety shows the diversity of Gamla’s trade relations.
Archaeological volunteers found this hoard of 27 silver coins in the street just outside the oil-press room in the western part of the city. The hoard contained 20 shekels minted in Tyre between the end of the second century B.C.E. and the first half of the first century C.E., featuring the head of the Phoenician god Melqart (short-neck images) and seven tetradrachmas with the head of Nero (long-neck images), minted in Antioch in 61, 63 and 64 C.E.