Jul 26 2010
Over 700 antique gold coins found near Sathy Jungles, India
More and more gold coins seem to be found by prospectors all around the world. Citing from the Times of India Article, 744 antique gold coins found near Sathy jungles.
Coimbatore, India: A treasure trove was unearthed in a remote hamlet near Sathyamangalam jungles when local tribals stumbled upon a centuries-old earthen pot filled with gold coins.
As many as 744 coins, weighing about 300 grams, were found in the pot, sending the tranquil tribal hamlet of Kottamalam in Erode district into a tizzy on Saturday. The coins are believed to date back to the Vijayanagar Empire period and may be over 500 years old.
For the family of Maadhi Veerayya, a tribal widow in Kottamalam, it was almost a dream tryst with fortune. On Friday morning, Maadhi and her granddaughters were clearing the thorny bushes near their house at Kottamalam.
Suddenly, her granddaughters Vinitha and Nagamma, noticed broken shards of an earthen pot in the bushes. When they rummaged deeper, they found coins smaller than 25 paise coins. Immediately, they called their grandmother, who dug deeper and found more coins. As they tried to quietly stash away the coins, curious neighbours gathered. And a frantic treasure hunt began. By afternoon, nine tribal families in the village collected over 700 coins and hid in their houses.
However, the village administrative officer got wind of the treasure trove and rushed to the spot. It was not long before the police too landed up, and launched a drive to recover the coins. “We have so far recovered 744 coins,” tahsildar K Shanmugham told TOI. The police are probing if more coins have been stealthily hidden away.
The coins are made of 18 carat gold and said to have been in circulation during the rule of the Vijayanagar kingdom between 14th and 16th centuries. The coins have an image of a tiger on a fluttering flag on one side and on the flip side, a picture of a mangalasutra’.
“It is said these coins may belong to the pre-Krishnadevaraya period, perhaps during the reign of his immediate predecessor Veeranarasimha Raya,” a revenue official said.
The coins have been handed over to the Erode district collector, R Sudalaimuthu. Curators from the government museum in Erode will examine the coins and present a report to the government.
