Posted on 08/30/2007 10:11:43 AM PDT by blam
1.5 tons of ancient coins discovered in north China
+ - 21:20, August 30, 2007
A cellar containing 1.5 tons of ancient coins, including some 2,000-year-old ones, have been discovered by a villager in Changzi County, north China's Shanxi Province.
The man in Qianwanhu village discovered the cellar with some 10,000 coins, ranging from 3 cm to 1 cm in diameter, on Aug. 23 when he was digging a channel to place pipes for tap water, said Li Lin, an official of the Changzi Center of Cultural Heritage and Tourism.
The "money cellar" was 1.5 meters under the earth, with coins being piled orderly into a cuboid of 1.3 meters long, 0.65 meter wide and one meter high, Li said.
Most of the coins were made during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) with the remainders made during Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and Tang Dynasty (618-907), Li said.
Many coins were in good condition, and characters on the surface were still legible, while some others were rusty. The largest coin is 3 cm in diameter and the smallest is one cm, Li said.
Archaeologists said the coins were there for three reasons: the coins were liege lords' private wealth; or they were buried by ancient Chinese private banks during war; or they belonged to rich people who buried them during war but had forgotten.
The coins have been sent to local cultural relics authorities.
Source: Xinhua
GGG Ping.
I wonder if they have a high lead content.
Stern Voice:
Coin must be given to people’s republic ...
Coming soon to a infomercial near you!...........You, too, can own a piece of ancient history! For only 3 easy payments of 39.95 plus shipping and handling!................
or it was some kooky chinese mountain man stockpiling coins for the impending revolution. maybe they'll find a will and find that he left the coins to leona's dog.
The coins have been confiscated to be shared with the peoplle. The maan finding them has been giving a free bowl of rice.
Made at the Thomas The Train factory.They had open manufacturing time.
How retentive of them ...
Ya know my first thought was how is he going to benefit from this. He dug, He found and state is gonna take. Man I want to live in china.
wasnt it hitlary who said were going to have to take things from you.
Wow! I know how the man in Qianwanhu village must feel. I found an old American coin in my basement that's been here since the house was built. (:^D)
His reward is to get a shiny new shovel to do his digging, to show the appreciation of the Chinese govt. Gotta feed the dragon, man.
Act in the next two minutes and we'll double the size!
Just pay additional shipping & handling of 39.95 from Qianwanhu village to anyplace in the USA (19.49 to Australia)
1.5 tons of Yap coin.
this is the same as in England.
It is called treasure trove. It basically states that certain types of found treasure is so historically important that best owned by the people of Britain.
There is a difference in that The Government of Britain does pay for the found treasure. Not as much as it might be worth on the open market, but nothing to sneeze at.
How come stuff like this never happens to me?
Extremely interesting. Thank you.
But can they fit in parking meters?
If not, they are not any good to me. :)
1.5 tons = 3,000 pounds.
10,000 coins.
They averaged .33 pounds (5 ounces) in weight? That’s some big coins!
What to do with Yap coins?
I already tried to cash one in, but my bank didn’t accept it.
They don’t even fit in parking meters or pay toilets.
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