A vast quantity of coins, strung together in more than 1,000 chains, was discovered by construction workers in the city of Maebashi.
A colossal treasure consisting of 100,000 ancient coins was unearthed during construction in the city of Maebashi, located in central Japan. Among these rare specimens is the Ban Liang, the first unified currency in Chinese history. This currency, dating back a thousand years, was strung together in chains of about 100 coins each, secured with straw, and concealed during a period of wartime chaos, as reported by Ancient Origins on November 13.
The oldest coin in the treasure trove is a Ban Liang coin minted in 175 BCE, making it over 2,000 years old. The coin has a diameter of 2.3 cm and a thickness of one millimeter, featuring a square hole, 7 millimeters wide, in the center with the characters “Ban” and “Liang” inscribed. The coin treasure was found in the Sojamachi district, near medieval Japanese settlements, revealing the hiding practices of wealth employed by the aristocracy during times of conflict.
Authorities in Maebashi discovered a 60 x 100 cm piece of straw, indicating that the coins were wrapped in straw before burial. Of the 334 coins examined, researchers confirmed at least 44 types, ranging in age from 175 BCE to 1265 CE. Most of these coins originate from the Western Han Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty. Ban Liang coins were initially issued by Emperor Qin Shi Huang around 210 BCE and remained in use until the Western Han Dynasty, when they were replaced by Wu Zhu coins in 118 BCE. The newest coin in the collection, dated 1265, indicates that these coins were buried during the period from 1185 to 1333.
Spanning one kilometer, the excavation site may have been the center of the Kozuke province during the Kofun period, from the late 3rd century to the 7th century, preceding Gunma prefecture and serving as a hub for trade activities.