No, this image does not show a '1968 shekel coin' depicting 9/11

Context

An image circulating online (archived here) shows what is supposedly a "1968 Israeli shekel" depicting a plane flying toward the Twin Towers – but it is actually likely to be a commemorative medal that has no connection to 9/11.

Posts on Facebook (archived here and here) show the image with the caption "1968 Israeli shekel 33 years before 9/11/2001," which suggests that the image displayed on the alleged coin represents 9/11.

Logically Accelerate, a tool for discovering fact-check-worthy content on social media, also found a YouTube video showing the same image.

In fact

Professor Derek Penslar, a professor of Jewish History at Harvard University, told Logically Facts, "In 1968, Israeli currency was measured in pounds (first) and agorot (100 to the pound). The shekel was introduced in 1980."

According to the Bank of Israel, the sheqel first became legal tender and was distributed in 1980 before being replaced by the New Israeli Sheqel in 1985.

Penslar also said, "This image does not resemble either a 1968 one pound coin or a 1980+ one shekel coin. It does not bear any of the customary wording for a coin. It is most likely a medallion in commemoration of the 1967 or 1973 War."

A Google reverse image search leads to the website of the Cincinnati Judaica Fund and the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, where the same image of the object is visible. 

The website names the object a "French Israeli Six Day War commemorative medal," dating it to 1967. Both the front and reverse feature Hebrew legends, and written along the edge is "With God's Will Was Saved the Peace of the World." It also contains images of a plane, a tank, and the Torah. 

According to the World Trade Center website, construction of the first tower began in 1968. This would be a year after the medal was made, which means it cannot depict the Twin Towers because it predates them.

This claim fits into the broader context of antisemitic conspiracies that have circulated around 9/11, which falsely claim that Jewish people or Israel orchestrated the attacks on the Twin Towers. Logically Facts has previously debunked 9/11 conspiracies and antisemitic claims.

The verdict

The object in the image is a commemorative medal and not a shekel. It does not show a plane flying towards the Twin Towers. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.