[Theoria]

McIntosh and his team of Australian and American historians, archaeologists, geomorphologists and Aboriginal rangers say that the five coins date back to the 900s to 1300s.

They are African coins from the former Kilwa sultanate, now a World Heritage ruin on an island off Tanzania.

[Theoria]

Trade, coins, X marks the spot. Just cool.

[pgkdan]

I think the real question is how long have they been there? Just because they’re 1000 years old doesn’t mean they were sitting on that beach for 1000 years.

[Domangart]

They should look down. I here there are short people there.

[LegendHasIt]

Cool story, even if it isn’t what they are hoping for, or is even just a hoax.

Thanks for posting the story.

[SkyDancer]

Just because they’re a 1000 years old there’s no telling when they were dropped there. I bet you can get a bunch of old Roman coins, drop them in New York City and claim they were there before whoever landed there first.

[Resolute Conservative]

I hope they are backed by a gold standard.

[Agamemnon]

Or the coins could've washed ashore after a shipwreck. When Isenberg discovered the copper coins he also found four coins that originated from the Dutch East India Company - with one dating back to 1690 raising memories of those early Dutch seafarers that stepped on Australian shores well before Cook.

I purchased a lot of shipwreck coins found by diver/fishermen off the coast of Java back in ~ 1965.

The "trove" consisted of a mixture of copper and bronze coins of both Oriental and Dutch origin. Many of the coins were 1 and 2 "duit" Dutch coins bearing the Dutch East India logo ("VOC") on obverse and the denomination and date on the reverse. Most coins were dated 1790 although there were a few 1824s and an 1834.

The Oriental coins i.e., the generic Chinese "cash" design coins with the square in the middle in the lot were from dynasties of the mid 600's through ~ 1500 AD. These were clearly bronze in composition and all the coins cleaned up fairly well after soaking in concentrated Acetic Acid for about a week or two.

These coins were traded regularly in that region for hundreds of years, and little attention was given to dates of coinage as much as it was essential to trade upon the basis of intrinsic trading value of the coins.

The reason I have knowledge of the dates of the Oriental coins is that I presented a couple of them to Chinese business partners as gifts and they were able to translate the inscriptions which indicated the dynasty.

So back to the Ausssie find, I think discoveries like this may be more common than is typically broadcast, but 15 minutes of fame + an opportunity to take a swipe at British imperialism is the kind of a thing some folks are inclined to do.

FReegards!

[TexasTransplant]

Remember this .... if /when California or any other State requires “Micro Stamping” of your Firing Pin ... make damned sure you police the brass for LE at your local shooting range and then Johnny Appleseed it all over the place.

TT

[OldNewYork]

Madagascar was settled from Indonesia. Interesting.

[B212]

all you white folks, get off our land....now!!!

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

5 coins found on a beach? Sure thing.

[Bernard Marx]

For a start, if James Cook wasn't the first person to discover Australia, who was?

We don't know him/her by name but Australia has been inhabited for some 50,000 years. I think its safe to say the Aboriginals or their ancestors discovered Australia.

[SunkenCiv]

additional:

Were the African coins found in Australia from a wrecked Arab dhow?
Jonathan Gornall
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/were-the-african-coins-found-in-australia-from-a-wrecked-arab-dhow

[Theoria]

More in depth article.

Ancient African coins that could change history of Australia