German town yields Persian coins
German archeologists have discovered 1,200-year-old silver coins which they believe were minted in modern day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa.
A team of volunteers working with regional authorities and the University of Greifswald found 82 coin fragments and coins, the oldest of which dates back to the year 610 and the most recent one to approximately 820 CE.
Searching a 20 by 25 meter stretch of land in the northern German town of Anklam, the team also unearthed a silver armband and three bars of silver.
"Coin treasures from this period are exceedingly rare, and in this volume it is one of the most significant (finds)," EarthTimes quoted archaeologist Michael Schirren as saying.
Historian Fred Ruchhoeft said the discovery shows that "there was global trade more than 1,200 years ago."
Experts say the coins were taken to northern Europe via trading routes along the Black Sea, the Dnieper River and the Volga, before reaching the Baltic Sea.
The site of the discovery is located near a Viking settlement, which once enabled trade to the East and the West.
TE/HGH
