Ancient gold coins unearthed accidentally in central Iran

09 May 2002

Shiraz, Shiraz Prov, -- While the city gas personnel where digging the ground in Neyriz, some 222 kms to the south of Shiraz, on Wednesday afternoon to lay city gas pipelines they noticed a number of ancient gold coins buried inside a vessel.

                      
 An eye witness told IRNA in Shiraz that the coins were unearthed near the Kavir (desert) congregational mosque of Neyriz in the vessel that is estimated to be about 1,400 years old (nearly the time of the invasion of Iran by Muslim forces).

                                             
The found coins were sent to the headquarters of CHO in Shiraz for identification and being kept in appropriate museums of the province.

Also, a large number of the coins had been stolen by unidentified individuals in the past, according to the eye witness, but the Cultural Heritage Organization (CHO) has already started a vast pursuit in search of the lost precious national heritage.