Photo: CCTV

 
More than 10 tons of ancient coins dating back to the West Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD) were unearthed at royal tombs in East China’s Jiangxi Province, The Mirror reported Thursday. 

Archaeologists uncovered a total 2 million copper wuzhu coins from the imperial tomb for the Marquis of Haihun State, near present-day Nanchang, estimated to be the equivalent of 10 million yuan ($1,575,000) in the currency of the time, media reported. 

Xu Changqing, head of the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, explained the coins are grouped in strings of 1,000, a monetary unit used at the time.

The site has yielded more than 10,000 objects over the past five years, all of which have helped paint a picture as to the life of aristocrats during the West Han dynasty, according to the institute. 

Archaeologists consider the tombs most well-preserved example of West Han Dynasty royalty ever discovered, Xinhua reported.

Photo: CCTV

 

Photo: Xinhua

 

Photo: Xinhua