Digging up an ancient jar of coins in the garden

(Baonghean) -Nearly a month ago, while digging a ditch in their garden, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai and Mrs. Truong Thi Cuc, in Hamlet 15, Nghi Kieu Commune, Nghi Loc District (Nghe An) accidentally dug up a jar of ancient money. The jar was about 30cm high, with a volume of about 2 liters, filled with ancient money, the mouth of the jar was covered with a beautiful green enamel bowl.

"The jar of money was shallow so it only took a few hoe strokes to get it out, but the money inside was so thick and had been buried for so long that it could not be taken out. I broke the jar to get the money out, and it weighed 13kg," said Mr. Thai.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thai dug up ancient coins in his garden.

According to observation, the coin is round, with a square in the middle, and many Chinese characters printed on one side of the coin. Mr. Thai said: "My son, Nguyen Trong Hao, brought some coins to Ninh Binh and asked an ancient coin collector to look at them. They said that this type of coin is about 200 years old." In addition, according to our observation, the bowl used to cover the jar is 5cm high, the mouth diameter is about 15cm, the bowl diameter is 8cm, both sides of the bowl are coated with a layer of green enamel, and the outside has 5 sun-shaped flowers.

After the news of Mr. Thai's family finding ancient coins spread, many people in Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Do Luong and even in Hue came to buy them at different prices. Many people even asked to use metal detectors to scan around his garden in the hope of finding other jars of coins. "When we first discovered them, some scrap metal dealers offered to buy them for 8 million VND. Then, some people in Dien Chau offered me 25 million VND to buy all the ancient coins. Recently, two people in Quynh Luu came to tell me that they had just bought a jar of ancient coins in Do Luong for 100 million VND, with both the coins and jar intact. My family had broken the jar, so they offered to buy it at a lower price, but my family refused," Mr. Thai recounted.

Although the family's circumstances are very difficult, both grandparents are farmers and have to raise 3 children in college, Mr. Thai said: "The family wants to determine the age of the above ancient coins, to restore their true value. And if the State needs to requisition them for research or display, my family is also ready."

However, up to now, Nghi Kieu commune authorities have not had a clear view on the above incident. Hopefully, the authorities will soon intervene to make a final conclusion, avoiding the loss of antiquities.

Nguyen Thanh Duy