A rare gold treasure has been unearthed in central Israel by two teenagers who helped out at an archaeological excavation site during their summer break.During the dig, the youngsters stumbled upon a clay pot containing what they thought to be dry leaves, the Israeli Antiques Authority said.
It turned out to be 425 meticulously preserved 24-carat gold coins that date back to the 9th century, a time where the area was under Islamic rule.One of the young men, Oz Cohen, who had volunteered at the excavation site before entering military service after the summer holidays, said: "It was amazing.
I dug in the ground and when I excavated the soil, saw what looked like very thin leaves.
When I looked again, I saw these were gold coins.
It was really exciting to find such a special and ancient treasure."