10 New Sheqalim Akko

Reverse

View of the ancient fortress walls, with the famous Khan-el-Umdan caravanseraie and its clock tower, erected to celebrate the 25th year of the reign of the notorious Ottoman “Butcher of Acre”, Sultan Suleiman Abdul Hamid II. The reverse also shows the subterranean Crusader Knights’ Hall, the famous White Mosque and other buildings on the Acre skyline.

Scripts: Arabic, Hebrew, Latin

Lettering: OLD AKKO عكا القديمة עכו העתיקה

Engravers: Moshe Pereg, Tidhar Dagan

Edge

Reeded

Comment

Akko richly deserves to be included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, worthy of preservation, inasmuch as this 4,000 year old port city, jutting into the blue waters of the Mediterranean on Israel’s northern coast, is a unique and priceless jewel. UNESCO's designation of Akko states that the exceptional history of the city is reflected in the fact that its well preserved Crusader subterranean city, dating from the Middle Ages, atop which is the Islamic fortress city of Ottoman times (18th-19th centuries), presents a priceless picture and testament of how ancient cities were planned and constructed and how later cities were built emerging from and on top of the older ones. This is exemplified as well in the layered archaeological findings of Jerusalem and each city teaches us about the other one. It is interesting to note that the Crusader city, with Byzantine and Roman remnants, was discovered in the 1960's when municipal development necessitated the construction of a modern sewer system.
Akko incorporates and encapsulates the entire history and archaeology of the Land of Israel, from Biblical times even before King Solomon, through the Greeks and Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Ottomon Moslems, Napoleon, the British and, finally, the fledgling State of Israel (as depicted in the famous film “Exodus”, with its dramatic prison escape from Acre’s moated fortress).

The coin was awarded second place (the Silver Medal) in the 2010 Vicenza Numismatica International Coin Design Competition, held in Italy.

Interesting fact

Price

Date	Mintage	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	UNC
5770 (2010) מ	555	-	-	-	-	-	-

Values in the table are based on evaluations by sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only for 10 New Sheqalim (Akko) 5770 (2010) coin.