Ancient gold coin tells the story of a powerful Egyptian queen

Both sides of the gold coin of Queen Berenice

Archaeologists have made an exciting discovery - a tiny gold coin that's over 2,200-years-old.

The coin shows a picture of a queen, known as Queen Berenice II, who lived in ancient Egypt during the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

The coin is smaller than a fingernail in size, and is almost entirely pure gold.

It was unearthed in the City of David, an archaeological site in Jerusalem, Israel, that is considered the most ancient part of the city.

It's believed that only 17 coins like this have ever been found - and this is the first one discovered outside of Egypt.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a Greek-ruled kingdom in Egypt.

This kingdom began after the death of Alexander the Great, when one of his generals, Ptolemy I, took control of Egypt.

Several years later, Queen Berenice II married Ptolemy I's grandson, Ptolemy III, who ruled Egypt between 246 and 221 BC.

Experts believe the coin was made around 2,270 years ago in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

It may have been part of a special reward given to soldiers who fought in the Third Syrian War - a big battle between Egypt and Syria that happened between 246 and 241 BC. That war was led by Queen Berenice's husband, King Ptolemy III.

The Givati Parking Lot is an archaeological excavation site located in the City of David national park, the most ancient part of the city of Jerusalem, in Israel

The coin was found in Jerusalem by Rivka Langler, who has been working at an archeological dig site known as the Givati Parking Lot for two years.

She was carefully sifting through soil when something shiny caught her eye: "At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing," she said. "But within seconds I was running excitedly through the excavation site."

One side of the coin shows Queen Berenice wearing a tiara, a veil, and a necklace.

The other side shows two stars and a cornucopia, also known as the 'horn of plenty' - typically shown as a curved, horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Around the edge of the coin are ancient Greek words, which translate to "of the Queen".

This shows that Berenice may have ruled Egypt herself while her husband was away at war.

Archaeology professor at Tel Aviv University and the excavation director, Yuval Gadot said: "The golden coin we found here tells us that Jerusalem was an important city."

Suggesting the coin's discovery is an indication that ancient Jerusalem was bigger, richer, and a more connected part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, than experts used to think.

Dr. Robert Kool, head of the numismatics (the study of coins, bank notes and medals) department at the Israel Antiquities Authority, added: "It's a gorgeous coin... As far as we know the coin is the only one of its kind ever discovered outside Egypt, which was the centre of Ptolemaic rule."