A ten-year-old girl experienced the thrill of being an archaeologist when she spotted something sparkling during an educational dig onThursday and discovered a ninth century gold coin.

Shira Sofer, a fourth-grade student at the Bachar Rousseau school in Tzur Moshe, near Netanya in central Israel, is one of hundreds of childrentaking part in a Lev HaSharon Regional Council archaeology program.

They are working at a village from the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods (the Talmudic and Geonic period, 5th to 11th centuries CE), amongexcavations that have revealed dwellings along with the everyday objects owned by their ancient owners, such as pottery, glass, coins andweights.

"I saw something sparkling so I just picked it up," said Sofer.

Archaeologist Achia Cohen-Tavor of Dagesh Archaeological Tourism, who is managing the excavation on behalf of Ariel University, said, "This is acoin minted by one of the caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty from Baghdad, who then ruled the Land of Israel, and they made one dinar, about 4 grams ofgold, and it is probably dated to the end of the ninth century CE."

To read the complete article, see:
Fourth-grader unearths 9th century goldcoin during educational dig (https://www.timesofisrael.com/fourth-grader-unearths-9th-century-gold-coin-during-educational-dig/)