A rift between a landlord and workers over the sharing of treasure found while digging a construction site, has led to the seizure of 82 ancient gold coins reportedly belonging to the period of the Vijayanagar empire in Gadag district.
The gold coins, kept in a clay pot, were found while digging the land belonging to Jyothi Hiremath of Mulagund of Gadag district.
After the news broke out, the police seized 82 gold coins weighing over 240 grams.
According to the police, the owner of the land handed over all the coins to them on Friday.
But the clay pot was reportedly found on March 29, the police said. Sources said that a rift over the sharing of the treasure gave away the news to others forcing them to hand it over to the police.
Officials from the Department of Archaeology and curator of the Government Museum Rajaram thoroughly inspected the site where the treasure was found and examined the gold coins.
The coins reportedly date back to the 15th century with the name Pratapa Krishna Raya (another name of Sri Krishnadevaraya) inscribed in Devanagari script on one side and images of Lord Krishna, Lord Ganesh, an elephant and a camel on the other side.
Some of the coins don’t have any images on either side. According to experts the coins were in circulation during the period of Sri Krishnadevaraya, who is said to have got Veeranarayana Temple built in Gadag.
Considering the significance of the find, the Archaeology Department officials have planned to conduct further excavation at the site.
