It was by pure chance that members of a diving club in the Roman-era port had come across the coins, which the authority said weighed nine kilograms (almost 20 pounds) but described as “priceless”.
“At first they thought they had spotted a toy coin from a game and it was only after they understood the coin was the real thing that they collected several coins and quickly returned to the shore in order to inform the director of the dive club about their find,” it said.
Experts from the authority called to the site uncovered “almost 2,000 gold coins in different denominations” circulated by the Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled much of the Middle East and North Africa from 909 to 1171.
Obviously, someone's ship sprung a leak and went to the bottom, along with the treasure. Who knows, there might be significantly more gold waiting just under the surface!
What a find !
ReplyDeleteMaybe more to come !
For what it's worth and for the historical record, if I'd found the trove of coins, I wouldn't have told anyone. I realize that I'm outing myself as a cur. I would have simply extended my vacation and would have rented a small boat as a diving tender, would have checked out 6 tanks a day, etc. You can tell by the color in the photo that it was discovered in shallower water, which means you can stay down a long time without getting bent.
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