US Returns Looted Ancient Jewish Coin to Israel

A rare, 2,000-year-old Jewish coin that U.S. authorities have returned to Israel nearly two decades after it was looted, smuggled, and put up for auction in the United States, in a file photo. Israel's Antiquities Authority via AP

JERUSALEM—American authorities have returned a rare, 2,000-year-old Jewish coin to Israel nearly two decades after it was looted, smuggled and put up for auction in the United States, Israel’s antiquities authority announced Tuesday.

The quarter shekel silver coin, made in the year 69, is one of just two confirmed to exist. The other has been in the British Museum’s collection for a century.