Over 100,000 Buried Coins From Centuries Ago Found in Japan

Archaeologists were able to find a huge stash containing 100,000 coins. They found it in the Japanese city of Maebashi, which is situated around 100 kilometers northwest of Tokyo.

Stash of More Than 100,000 Coins

The stash was discovered while excavations were conducted ahead of a factory's construction. So far, only 334 coins have been checked. The oldest one was found to date back to B.C. 175 and originate from China. It had a Chinese inscription engraved over it that read "Banliang," which means "half ounce." These Banliang coins were commonly produced in China roughly 2,200 years ago.

There were 1,060 bundles found to contain the coins. Each bundle had roughly 100 coins.

According to associate history professor Ethan Segal from Michigan State University, who was not involved in the discovery, other coin hoards, including ones that are bigger than this stash, have been found across Japan. Several coin caches that mostly date back to the medieval period of the country have been spotted in several areas throughout the archipelago.

Japanese Coins

Segal explains that it was only in the late 700s that the Japanese started making their own metal coins for currency. They modeled their pieces after the coins from China, with square-shaped holes right in the coins' middle. Holes were added so that several coins could be stringed together. There were usually 100 coins grouped together for each string. Apparently, several of the discovered coins had square holes in their middle.

The associate professor further notes that Japan's self-production of coins went on until the middle of the 1000s and ended up stopping due to economic changes and a lack of copper ore supply. Given this, Chinese coins were used at times instead.

Segal adds that it would not be surprising if several coins were from the Northern Song dynasty that took place in the years 960-1127. This dynasty manufactured huge quantities of coins. However, the Jurchen nomadic group ended up overthrowing them in the early 12th century. Because of this, the value of their coins was lost, and people had a greater willingness to use them for foreign purchases.

While several massive coin stashes have been discovered in Japan, the reason behind their deposits remains a mystery. William Farris, a Japanese history professor emeritus from the University of Hawaii who did participate in the discovery, explains that hoards could have served as banks. Another idea is that the practice of hoarding could have had a religious or other symbolic meaning attached to it.

It is also possible that these coins were buried by the Japanese during wartime. Segal notes that they are bulky and heavy to bring along when one needs to flee. However, there are also scholars who propose that they may have been buried to serve as religious offerings, though a scholarly census is not present.

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