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Ancient African coins spark international treasure hunt

This old story has been re-discovered by NBC News national:

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A wooden fishing dhow lies near the ruins of an ancient fort on the shores of
Kilwa Kisiwani in Tanzani in 2006.

Can a handful of ancient African coins, discovered almost 70 years ago by a
lone soldier on a remote island, rewrite history?

A weathered, hand-drawn map, with an "X" marking the spot on the Australian
island where the African coins were discovered, might help an international
team of researchers, who will travel to the island this summer, answer that question.

...

Adding to the adventure's appeal is an Aboriginal legend that mentions a hidden
cave, located near where the coins were found, that holds a treasure of
doubloons and weaponry from an ancient era, according to a news release from IUPUI.

Despite their rich history, the old copper coins - now in the Powerhouse Museum
in Sydney - have limited financial value.

Article:
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-african-coins-spark-international-treasure-hunt-6C10467532

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Comments

  • I saw that article too-- I wish the article had included a pic of the Kalwi coins (and not a link to the 10 rarest U.S. coins). Anybody have a pic of what these 15th century african coins would look like?


  • Can't beat a good treasure story!

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  • ormandhormandh Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭
  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Anybody have a pic of what these 15th century african coins would look like? >>


    Some of the other articles which were posted a couple of months ago when this was closer to being actual "news" did have pics of Kilwa coins (like this one on Yahoo), though not the actual Kilwa coins purportedly in the museum's possession. You can see some coins which are presumably of much the same type on these zeno.ru pages.

    I've said it elsewhere where this article has popped up, and I'll say it again here.

    First off, the "Kilwa Sultanate" didn't start issuing coins until the 1300s, so "thousand-year-old coins" is a bit of an exaggeration. Assuming, of course, that the museum guys have IDed the coins properly and that they're not simply Indonesian Native States coins from the 1800s - which would fit in more logically with the VOC coins found alongside them. And I wish the journalists wouldn't throw around the word "ancient" so casually; while the definition of "ancient" is somewhat flexible, by no means does it include a time period a mere 1000 years ago.

    Second, the standard of evidence required to "rewrite history" is not yet met. All we've got is an anecdotal story of how some guy said he found some coins 60 years ago. Most UFO sightings are better documented. Until proper archaeologists actually find a cache of coins or some other datable artefacts that can be proven to have lain buried for 700 years or so, then we've got nothing to write home about; those coins could have been dumped there by a much more recent visitor to these shores. The only "logical" reason why Kilwa coins and VOC coins would be found side-by-side is if a modern-day coin collector put them side by side in their collection.

    Finally, even if it were entirely true, I'm not entirely sure it would "rewrite history" all that much. We know that pre-European Indonesians were perfectly aware that Australia was here, just as the pre-1770 Dutch and Portuguese knew it was here; its just that none of them bothered coming here very often, because they had no good reason to. Muslim trader-explorers were motivated by the same things European ones were: gold, glory and God. As far as northern Australia is concerned, there were no valuable trade goods to buy, no recognizable governments to trade with or conquer, no willing natives to convert to their religion (just plenty of unwilling ones). But, as far as I am aware, no-one doubts that pre-European visitors from Indonesia were fishing just offshore from Australia a thousand years ago. That some of those fishermen might have come ashore (looking for water, or lost in a cyclone, or whatever) would be inevitable.
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  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I liked the part about the "treasure of doubloons".

    Maybe from the Spanish Armada?

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  • EVillageProwlerEVillageProwler Posts: 5,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This story is funny. Reminds me of how the French "discovered" Angkor. HA!

    And, btw, the Chinese and Arab sailors certainly knew of Australia (and of each other too!). They just didn't care about Australia because their interests were commercial and political.

    EVP

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  • LochNESSLochNESS Posts: 4,829 ✭✭✭
    While I totally agree with Sapyx's interpretation of the "news" coverage and their "facts" ... I was kind of hoping that Africans would be proven to have reached Australia before white men. African kingdoms don't get enough credit in the mainstream history perspective. Many pro-African historians lecture about the kings of early African empires, or the Egyptian pharos who were black and not "tan" or "olive-skinned" as Greeks portrayed them. The only consolation is that the Greeks and later Western Europeans painted everyone in the same negative slant. Whether dealing with the "barbarians" who spoke in weird "bar-bar" sounds, or the Native American "savages" ... I can easily picture a boat of African explorers sailing from Madagascar across the Indian ocean, around Malaysia and onto Australia. I just don't think there's enough evidence to prove it. Yet.
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  • I love treasure-hunt stories. New discoveries can change old, strongly believed-in tales of trade, travel and cultural exchange….
  • ColinCMRColinCMR Posts: 1,482 ✭✭✭
    Coin finds are rarely proof of any direct visitation or settlement, ephemeral or permanent.

    LOCHness, yes African histories are commonly ignored by the average person, but beware of pro- anything histories, and especially hoping for certain kinds of proof of things that can affect perspectives and ethos.


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