Bat Creek and Numismatics
By
Dewey Maggard
During World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers were digging up the earth in preparations for an Army
Installation at this place called Bat Creek, Tenn.
To the amazement of those involved with this project, one of the men found this cache of loose coins, all together
at a depth of approximately twelve feet. As he looked over the small pieces of round disks, he was at a loss to
know what they were. He gathered them up and took them to his superior officer to have a look.
The officer was no better off, but decided these might be of some unusual significance due to the depth of where
they were found. He in turn took them to the commanding officer for further examination. After much
deliberations, these coins finally ended up with the curator of the Smithsonian Institute.
It was soon discover-ed to be Hebrew inscriptions on the coins, and presently a Hebrew scholar was summoned.
His findings revealed these coins were all from the period of the Maccabees of the Bar-Koba revolt era of 133
A.D. This find did not make headlines of national newspapers. Why? Good question! It seems anytime a fantastic
discovery is made, there are always the skeptics -- well, maybe they were planted. So, rather than face possible
embarrassment, the story dies and valuable knowledge becomes suppressed.
How and why these coins came to be where they are is cause for much speculation. The fact remains, the
coinages found have all dated from as early as 450 B.C. to 90 A.D. to no later than 133 A.D. The answer is
simple. There was a flow of people coming here from Europe, Middle East, and other places. The majority of the
finds were of Jewish and Roman origins. Numismatics once again places history in an embarrassing position...Yes,
coins tell the story. As late as 1982, the Bat Creek coins could still be seen at Smithsonian. I am not sure if this is
still true.
However, Professor Barry Fell of Harvard, and a Professor associate of his, Professor Cyrus Gordon have
verified the coins presence at that time. According to these men, there are numerous other artifacts that correlate
to these coinage finds validating the presence of people who carried them here from across the oceans in ancient
times.
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