Hundreds of ancient coins unearthed by the 2004 tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia discovered by an oyster gatherer in a village swamp.
Last week, a woman collecting oysters in the northern Indonesia village of Gampong Pande discovered an ancient chest full of gold coins, according to the Jakarta Post.
The chest — decorated ornately with oyster shells and coral — has prompted hundreds of locals to scour nearby swamps in hopes of finding buried treasure.
Yet authorities have been quick to close down shop. They blocked the site off Thursday, until the provincial government can decide how to best handle the situation.
The province is now asking citizens to hand over any coins discovered in the swamp, which is located near an ancient burial ground. Many of the coins have already been sold to local shops, for about $30 USD a piece.
One of the area’s oldest villages, Gampong Pande is located in the Aceh province — once a powerful Islamic kingdom reigned by the Meukuta Alam dynasty (1496–1903) — making the discovery less remarkable than one might think. Valuable coins have been found near the village for decades.
Translated to mean “village of the master craftsman,” Gampong Pande was highly industrial from the thirteenth to the seventeen centuries, producing various goods and coins.
Today however, many of the powerful kingdom’s historical sites and tombs lay in disrepair — even buried in mud — leading local researchers to have concern over the government’s lack of preservation efforts.
While researchers wait for the government to pick up the pace, the Banda Aceh Tourism Agency is doing its best to limit the number of locals searching for ancient coins, while studying those already unearthed.
The collector in you can dig up rare and foreign coins without the wait while Indonesia works on preserving some of its most precious relics.
What do you think?
Should the Province have stepped in to halt locals from collecting and selling coins?
Have you ever located a rare coin in an unexpected place?
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