Just in time for Hannukah comes the story of a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of a half-shekel coin from rubble removed by the Waki from Temple Mount. The coin itself bears on one side an image of a branch with three pomegranates and the inscription "Holy Jerusalem"; the other side has a chalice and the words "Half Shekel" (obviously in Hebrew!). Although such coins have been found elsewhere, this is the first time such a coin has been found on Temple Mount.

This one is being spun in various ways by various media sources, but what I don't quite understand is why so many articles are stressing (photographically) another shekel coin bearing the image of Antiochus IV (i.e. the guy associated with Hannukah ... that's probably the answer to my question) which was also found, rather than this coin. The Arutz Sheva piece noted below has excellent photos of both.

Dixit Gavriel Barkay:

"The half-shekel coin was used to pay temple taxes. The coins were apparently minted at the Temple Mount itself by the Temple authorities."

"This is the first time a coin minted at the Temple Mount itself has been found, and therein lies its immense importance, because similar coins have been found in the past in the Jerusalem area and in the Old City's Jewish quarter, as well as at Masada, but they are extremely rare in Jerusalem."

"In the New Testament, Jesus expelled the money changers from the Temple Mount who were exchanging money and handing out the half-shekel coins used to pay the tax ... We knew this from written sources, but now we have first-hand evidence."

"Though the coin is in excellent condition, it does have signs of having been damaged by fire, most likely the fires that destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE."

"The rubble from this illegal work was removed by bulldozers and trucks and discarded in the Kidron Valley. Though these remains are no longer in their original context, they contain important archaeological material."

•Rare Coin from Hasmonean Rebellion Found in Temple Mount Rubble (Arutz Sheva)
•Rubble yields silver Temple 'tax' half-shekel (JPost)
•Rare first century half-shekel coin found in Temple Mount dirt (Ha'aretz)
•Ancient coins found (Windsor Star)
•Rare first century coin discovered at temple dig in Jerusalem (ThaIndian)