Jalaun: Labourers in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun recently stumbled upon a silver 'treasure' while digging earth for the construction of a house, evoking memories of the treasure hunts portrayed in Bollywood films of the yore.
At least 251 silver coins and silver jewellery dating back to the British era were unearthed at village Vyaspura under Jalaun Kotwali police station area, 27 km from Orai headquarters. This discovery took place just a week after almost 600 silver coins were found during the excavation of the soil for the construction of a bridge at Raigunj in Murshidabad district in West Bengal.
The coins and the silver ornaments were found by the laborers during the excavation work for the construction of a new house by demolishing the ancestral house of the house owner Kamlesh Kushwaha. Kushwaha said that the laborers were digging the soil late on Friday night, when a labourer's shovel hit a pot like object.
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On digging further, the labourer unearthed a pot inside after which he told Kushwaha about it. When it was taken out, hundreds of silver coins and silver ornaments were found in it. It is said that Kushwaha tried to hide the coins, but the news spread like wildfire with police shortly reaching the spot. A huge crowd of people also reached Kamlesh Kushwaha's house to have a glimpse of the 'treasure'.
The local police later called in the Archaeological department officials after which the process of extracting coins from the ground went on till late Friday night. The Deputy District Magistrate also reached the spot to oversee the inspection. A strong posse of police was also deployed in the area to prevent any untoward situation.
On close scientific inspection, the Archaeological department officials found the silver coins and the ornaments to be 161 years old-from 1862 during the British rule, an official said. Some coins bore Queen Victoria's emblem, while others had her picture and name, with locals claiming that all the coins were made of silver.The local administration later took the coins into custody for further action. Deputy District Magistrate of Orai Rajesh Singh said that more than 250 silver coins besides silver bangles have been found from under the house of Kushwaha.
Interestingly enough the coins recovered both from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal bear the emblem of Queen Victoria and are believed to have been minted around 200 years ago. Fascinatingly enough the coins recovered from West Bengal have the bearing of the same date and emblem on them. Though the exact date of the coins is yet to the verified by the Archaeological department but locals claimed that all the coins were made of silver and some bore Queen Victoria's emblem while others had her picture and name. Sources in the department said that the coins are believed to have been minted between 1862 and 1916, during Queen Victoria's reign.
