About thirty gold coins were found within the remains of a Crusader-era shipwreck that was discovered off the coast of Acre in northern Israel. The ship and the coins date to the end of the 13th century.

The coins were identified as florins, minted in Florentine, Italy. The ship was one of several vessels to try to flee Acre when Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil invaded in 1291 to drive out the Crusaders. The coins sank together with the ship. Archaeologists also found ceramic jugs and bowls from southern Italy, Cyprus and Syria in the ship wreck. It is possible that the coins were one’s treasure or were used by Europeans who tried to leave Acre at the time to bribe the boat owners in order to escape.

(after Haaretz)