Hurricane-prone states The day in pictures Get the USA TODAY app Start the day smarter ☀️ U.S. Elections Sports Entertainment Life Money Tech Travel Opinion ONLY AT USA TODAY: Newsletters For Subscribers From the Archives Crossword eNewspaper Magazines Investigations Podcasts Video Humankind Just Curious Best-selling Booklist 24/7 Live Stream Legals OUR PORTFOLIO: 10Best USAT Wine Club Online Sports Betting Online Casino Reviewed Homefront Blueprint Southern Kitchen Best Auto Insurance Best Pet Insurance Best Travel Insurance Best Credit Cards Best CD Rates Best Personal Loans Home Internet FACT CHECK fact-checking Add Topic # Fact check: Image shows commemorative medal, not Israeli \'shekel\' predicting 9/11 ![\\"Portrait](\\"/gcdn/authoring/authoring- images/2023/11/29/USAT/71739954007-hudnall.jpg?crop=1664,1665,x0,y161&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\") Hannah Hudnall USA TODAY ![\\"\\"](\\"/gcdn/presto/2022/03/10/USAT/a160c16c-72f6-4024-9fd9-314a999d55fc- AP_Mideast_Israel_Ancient_Coins.JPG?crop=5759,3240,x0,y292&width=660&height=371&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\"/) PlayPause Sound OnSound Off 0:00 0:57 AD SKIP ClosedCaptionOpen ShareEnter Full ScreenExit Full Screen ## The claim: Israeli \'shekel\' from 1968 predicted Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Social media users are sharing an image they claim shows an old Israeli coin that predicted the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. \"1968 Israeli \'shekel\' 33 years before 9/11/2001,\" reads the caption of one Oct. 11 Facebook post, which features an image of a gold coin that is inscribed with Hebrew as well as depictions of a plane, a tank and a scroll. An Oct. 12 version of the post written in Hungarian garnered more than 200 shares on its first day, while a version from July accumulated more than 700 likes. But, the claim is false. The supposed \"shekel\" is a commemorative medal memorializing the Six-Day War. The medal does not feature a plane alongside two towers, as the post appears to suggest, but a plane beside a Torah scroll. Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment. ## The commemorative medal didn\'t predict 9/11 The supposed \"shekel\" is a commemorative medal from 1967, according to the Cincinnati Judaica Fund and the Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education website. It commemorates the Six-Day War, which was fought in June 1967 between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The center\'s database says the medals were possibly issued by French-Jewish volunteers who aided in the war. The back of the medal shows a plane, a tank and a Torah scroll alongside Hebrew text that reads, \"With G-d\'s Will Was Saved the Peace of the World.\" The Torah is the most valued object in Judaism and contains the Five Books of Moses, according to the British Library. Fact check: Altered image shows Atlantic headline about 9/11 conspiracy theorists The medal does not depict the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, which were destroyed during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Construction of the first World Trade Center tower didn\'t begin until a year after the medal was issued, in August 1968. Meanwhile, Israel didn\'t begin circulating shekels, its current national currency, until 1980, according to the Bank of Israel. ## Our rating: False Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an Israeli shekel from 1968 predicted 9/11. It\'s a commemorative medal memorializing the Six-Day War and features a plane beside a Torah scroll. It does not depict the Twin Towers. ## Our fact-check sources: * The Cincinnati Judaica Fund and the Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education, accessed Oct. 13, French Israeli Six Day War commemorative medal * History, Aug. 21, 2018, Six-Day War * The British Library, accessed Oct. 13, Sefer Torah Or 1462 * 9/11 Memorial & Museum, accessed Oct. 13, About the 9/11 Memorial & Museum * The Bank of Israel, accessed Oct. 13, Sheqel Series * World Trade Center, accessed Oct. 17, Timeline of history Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 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Israeli 'shekel' from 1968 predicted Sept 11 terrorist attacks