Archaeologists discover 2000 year old coins in Japan
Archaeologists in Japan discovered a million ancient coins in Central Japan
A group of Japanese archaeologists found a valuable collection of 100,000 ancient coins at an excavation site in Maebashi, Gunma, Japan.
According to Insider, one of Japan’s largest national newspapers, Asahi Shimbun published the report on November 3, discussing the ancient find in detail.
The coins were found in an excavation area where a company was planning to build a factory, the newspaper quoted. When archaeologists had dug up the area, they found 1,060 bundles of coins wrapped around with straw rope. Each bundle contained a hundred pieces.
The newspaper published a picture of the excavation site showing hundreds of grey, round objects and a large hole in the ground. This hole was dug by the archaeologists, which was measured and found to be about 1.96 feet high and 3.2 feet wide.
Upon analysis, archaeologists found that some of the coins were almost two thousand years old, belonging to ancient civilizations of Chinese origin. A total of 334 coins have been examined and it was revealed that the coins trace back to at least 44 different eras, according to the published report.
The oldest coin discovered was a Ban Liang which had engravings of the words 'Ban' and 'Liang' bearing a hole in the middle. It is an ancient bronze coin that dates back to the Chinese empire in 175 BC. It was introduced as China’s first currency by the emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
The most recent coin found amongst the primitive collection dates back to 125. Alongside these coins, other unique relics were also found at the excavation site, as per Asahi Shimbun.
The Maebashi Municipal Government officials have been informed of this historical find but did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.