A copper pot of full of antique silver coin dating back to the 13th century unearthed as a group of locals engaged in an old temple reconstruction dug up a pit in Kathur village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district on 21st July, district officials said on Friday.
The pot, containing 329 coins weighing nearly four kgs was found when the ground was being dug to construct the main gate for the Bhairav Temple in the village, gram pradhan Shravan Thapaliyal said. Thapaliyal handed over the coins to the district magistrate.
Ashish Kumar, assistant director, Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Dehradun said that though experts would soon ascertain the age and value of the found coins, it apparently appeared to be from the Mughal era, dating between the 13th and 16th centuries. The coins sports inscriptions in Arabic confirmed Ashish Kumar. He further confirmed that “Since the department is facing a paucity of funds and technical staff, we will seek help from Government of India and HNB Garhwal Central University to carry out further excavation at the site.”
District magistrate Sushil Kumar said that the temple premises and the adjoining areas could be further dug with the Governments permission for additional research. After learning about the 21st June discovery Kumar had asked the sub-divisional magistrate of Srinagar, MD Joshi, and the ASI to carry out a physical verification of the site, however before the team could reach the site, the village head handed over the container and the coins to additional district magistrate Ramji Sharan Sharma.
Sharma confirmed that 293 out of the 329 coins found are circular in shape while the rest 38 are rectangular and they weigh 3,785 grams. He added that while the copper container had oxidized, the coins were in good condition.
Earlier in the month too, Gold coins belonging to the 12th-century had been found during earth-digging for a road construction in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district. It was reported that a pot containing 57 gold coins, a silver coin, and a gold earring was unearthed on 10th July during the construction of a road between Korkoti and Bedma villages.
As per the preliminary investigation, the coins date back to the 12th and 13th century. The inscriptions on the coins were in a script which was prevalent during the time of Yadav dynasty which ruled over Vidarbha (presently in Maharashtra).
