Posted on 08/30/2006 10:29:12 AM PDT by blam
Ancient gold coins found in Kyrgyz mountain lake
16:34 | 30/ 08/ 2006
BISHKEK, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Possibly the world's most ancient gold coin has been discovered in a high mountain lake in Kyrgyzstan, the chief of an archeological expedition said Wednesday.
Academic Vladimir Ploskikh said an expedition from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University found a 70-gram octagonal gold artifact on the northern side of Lake Issuk-Kul.
"This is probably the earliest form of metal money found in Central Asia, and may have served as an archetype for later gold coins," he said. "If this [hypothesis] is confirmed, the find will have a unique worldwide historical and cultural significance as a prototype for gold money."
The archeologists also recovered from the lake bronze daggers, sickles and hatchets, as well as household implements and jewelry dating back to approximately 1,000 BC.
Ploskikh said the finds could mark a "new page in history."
GGG Ping.
70 grams? That's hugh [sic].
Interesting, I wonder how they got into the lake.
Thats about a couple of troy ounces if it is pure gold. As bullion alone its around $1200
Ancient charioteer Teddius Kennadius had a slight mishap after leaving the king's banquet..........
LOL
They will soon discover his ancient brass whiskey jug.
The headline says coinS, but the article says coin...
I wonder if they stashed a few.
Maybe the lake wasnt there at the time the items were deposited...or it washed into the lake over the centuries..
Maybe it was a sacrifice to the gods or some such event......
A picture would be nice.
The world's previous oldest coin was made of electrum, a gold and silver alloy.
Get off the crack mack, your claim is wack!
According to ancient legends, there are four lost cities under the lake. While a lot of the myth is just that, it does appear that the lake changed level at some point and flooded out the civilization that previously lived along its shores. Treasure hunters and archaeologists have worked the area for centuries looking to validate the legends and get rich at the same time. While they have made some interesting finds, it's likely that the four "cities" were really just villages of some sort. I would assume that these coins and artifacts belonged to the people who lived there before the shoreline rose.
Nowadays, the shoreline is dropping by about 2 inches a year, so lots of previously deep areas are gradually becoming accessible.
For those not familiar with this particular lake, it's the second largest mountain lake on the planet, and it's about the size of Lake Ontario.
Ive always been into artifacts and treasure, havent found much but a few arrowheads:
I wonder what those brass daggers look like.
Sounds like the Quabbin Reservoir in Mass. There are four lost towns under that man-made lake, but alas, no gold yet.
Hey! That's the button I lost off my coat last winter!!
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