Can you imagine discovering treasure while away on holiday?
A British woman recently discovered a trove of coins in Jerusalem’s Old City. Nadine Ross, a 34 year old woman from Birmingham, made the discovery at an archaeological dig when she overturned a rock in a car park.
The find consisted of nearly 300 gold coins dating back to the Byzantine empire, before Persians conquered the region in 614 AD.
Ms Ross, a BMW engineer, was volunteering at the dig as part of an adventure holiday, and was absolutely thrilled at the find.
It’s very, very exciting… we’ve had pottery, we’ve had glass, but we’ve had nothing like this.
The coins were probably hidden during the invasion by the Persians, and all depict the likeness of Heraclius, the Roman Emperor of the time.
Dr Doron Ben-Ami, one of the overseeing archaeologists at the dig, rates the find as “one of the most impressive hoards ever discovered in Jerusalem”.
The lure of traveling for treasure in South Africa
Thousands of people visit other countries each year in search of the ever-elusive. Whether diving a wreck or combing a foreign beach with a metal detector, treasure tourism is booming. The most famous of these in South African history was the gold rush of more than a century ago, but to this day South Africa offers fantastic opportunities, and even more gold rushes.
The variety of claims surrounding lost Boer treasure following the collapse of the Paul Kruger Boer government make for great campfire stories. These legendary Kruger Millions are believed to have been hidden on behalf of Paul Kruger, or perhaps by the man himself, towards the end of the Boer War between 1899 and 1902. The estimated value of the missing Kruger Millions today stands at about R243 million.
Kruger Millions found?
In 2001 a variety of media reports suggested that farm workers may have discovered a portion of the missing loot, but to what extent nobody can be sure.
One report from the South African Broadcasting Corporation was clearly an April Fool’s joke, stating that the discovery of the coins had delayed the construction of the Gautrain.
Whether these reports are true or false, the Kruger Millions are still a reason why thousands from all over the world travel to South Africa each year to visit the Lowveld where the wealth supposedly remains buried.
Read more about the Kruger Millions
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