2,000-year-old Phoenician coin was used as bus fare in England, but 'how it got there will always be a mystery'
By Kristina Killgrove
Published on March 9, 2026.
A 2,000-year-old coin from Phoenician was discovered in a bus driver's till in the 1950s, and donated to the Leeds Museum and Galleries. The coin was discovered by the grandson of a former transport cashier, James Edwards, who worked for Leeds City Transport and was obsessed with finding fake or foreign coins. His research into the coin's designs revealed it was minted over 2,00 years ago in Gadir, Spain's Andalusia region. The front side of the coin depicts a god representing Gadir and two bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), likely a reference to the deity of Gadir. The donation will be studied by experts at the museum.
Read Original Article