A timeworn urn with 102 ancient coins expected to be centuries old, was handed down to Panki police in Palamau on night Sunday by villager J. Ansari of Naudeeha village, 50 km away from Daltonganj.
“A plot of land belonging to one late Bacchan Baitha of Naudeeha village was levelled by a JCB machine where the family found an urn buried deep inside a field,” said sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Lesliganj Anup Kumar Baraik told The Telegraph Online on Monday.
Baraik said the family didn’t bother looking into the urn and had set it aside, possibly due to superstitions about it carrying bad omens or spirits, or for fear of snakes and scorpions that could be coiled inside.
However, J. Ansari opened it and found 102 coins, following which the discovery of the urn became the talk of the town.
“The moment we got this information we sent word to J. Ansari to deposit the urn with all its coins as it is the government’s property,” said officer-in-charge J.K. Raman, adding that the urn was handed in on Sunday.
“The moment we got this information we sent word to J. Ansari to deposit the urn with all its coins as it is the government’s property,” said officer-in-charge J.K. Raman, adding that the urn was handed in on Sunday. Manob Chowdhury
“We are not experts, and cannot ascertain which metal these coins or the urn made of. The locals claim it is silver,” said the SDPO.
“We do not know what to do with these coins,” he said.
Deputy commissioner Palamau Shantanu Kumar Agrahari has asked the Panki block development officer (BDO) to take possession of the urn with its coins, and store them in a well-protected place.
The DC said since there is no unit of the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) in Palamau, officials will get in touch with the Ranchi-based ASI unit regarding the matter.
A Muslim who could read Urdu was brought in to decipher the inscriptions.
He told this correspondent that 80 coins out of 102 have a single line in Arabic, while words like ‘muneer’ and ‘jaloos’ in Urdu are written on the others.
Regarding any information on how dated the coins are, the man said “I can only read the ‘39’ inscribed on it.”
