Villagers dig up ancient coins in Henan

Villagers are flocking to a construction site in Zhumadian, Henan province, to dig ancient coins to sell by weight, according to Dahe Daily.

Workers started digging a ditch in Renhezhai village, Xiping county, in early August and piled the excavated soil beside the ditch. Children in the village played on the soil and found some coins there.

As the news spread, adults arrived from far and near to dig for coins at the site, a villager told Dahe Daily.

The newspaper quoted another villager as saying many had found lots of ancient coins.

Others have arrived to buy the coins each day. One kilogram of coins was sold for 380 yuan ($60), a woman surnamed Li told the newspaper.

The coins are believed to be from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) as they bear the titles of several emperors from that time.

Villagers are puzzled why locals have dug such coins for more than a month with no intervention from officials in charge of cultural relics.

As more and more soil is dug in the process of searching for coins, the mud might collapse and cause accidents, they said.