Free Republic

Romans in Okinawa - Japan? | 5:58 | Dr Raoul McLaughlin | 10.4K subscribers | 11,457 views | January 7, 2019The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean | Raoul McLaughlin | full text PDF | Shiver Me Timbers!

The coins were excavated from the ruins of Katsuren Castle in Okinawa Prefecture, according to the Japan Times, noting that this is the country’s first discovery of its kind. Citing the Board of Education in the city of Uruma, the Japan Times reports that the four copper coins are believed to be from the third to fourth centuries. ... X-ray analysis of the coins has apparently revealed the image of Emperor Constantine I and a soldier carrying a spear. Each coin measures 0.6 inches to 0.8 inches in diameter, according to the report.

The eyes of a visiting archaeologist lit up when he was shown the 10 tiny, tarnished discs that had sat unnoticed in storage for two and a half years at a dig on a southern Japan island. He had been to archaeological sites in Italy and Egypt, and recognized the “little round things” as old coins, including a few likely dating to the Roman Empire. “I was so excited I almost forgot what I was there for, and the coins were all we talked about,” said Toshio Tsukamoto of the Gangoji Institute for Research of Cultural Property in Nara, an...

Japanese archaeologists said Wednesday they have for the first time unearthed ancient Roman coins at the ruins of an old castle. The discovery of 10 bronze and copper coins -- the oldest dating from about 300-400 AD -- in southern Okinawa caught researchers by surprise. It was the first time Roman Empire coins have been discovered in Japan, thousands of kilometres from where they were likely minted. "At first I thought they were one cent coins dropped by US soldiers," archaeologist Hiroki Miyagi told AFP. "But after washing them in water I realised they were much older. I was really...