Vadnagar’s treasure trove: 7 coin and cowrie hoards found 12 Mar, 2021 TNN

One of the six hoards of coins displayed at the experiential museum in Vadnagar.

AHMEDABAD: The site of the experiential museum in PM Narendra Modi's hometown of Vadnagar, currently being excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), has thrown up several numismatic treasures. The team of researchers has found six hoards of coins and one hoard of cowrie shells from the site during excavation.

A gold coin, believed to be of Mameluke dynasty of Egypt dating back to 15th century, has also been found. It signifies the ancient town's trade connection overseas.

The ASI team had displayed the finds on Wednesday as Raghavendra Singh as secretary of culture, visited the PM's hometown to review the progress of the experiential museum work.

It was discussed during the secretary's visit that till 500 years ago, the cowrie shells were used as a lower denomination currency. While scattered cowries are found from many archaeological sites, here the team has found an earthen pot full of 1,100 cowries – pointing at the ancient method of burying the currency for safekeeping.

The biggest coin hoard contains 1,300 silver coins – believed to be about 1,000 years old and belonging to the Solanki dynasty of Gujarat.

Other cache includes two pots of 100 coins each, one of 50, another of 70 and one of 20 coins. It's one of the biggest coin cache recovered in Vadnagar where over six sites have been excavated so far. The museum will exhibit all the treasures unearthed to the public.

The team of ASI, in Vadnagar since 2015, has thrown light on the Buddhist heritage of the town – believed to be existing on the same spot for over 2,000 years – finding Buddhist sites as mentioned by the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang during his visit to the town in 7th century. The state archaeology department had earlier excavated a nunnery from the town.

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