Chinese archeologists are trying to deprive some lucky finders of antiquities of their find because they were "uncovered without permission" on a riverbank beside the Gan River in Xingan county, Jiangxi province, last week. The private excavation of antiques is illegal as Chinese law stipulates that all such discoveries belong to the state. Hundreds of Chinese treasure hunters battled the police sent to stop them as they dug up more than 500kg of ancient coins during an unauthorised mass dig near a river. The police had to bring in 20 reinforcements the next day to repress the finders. The coins are thought to have been part of a Qing courtier’s fortune, which was lost when a ship sank as he was travelling home to Jiangxi after his retirement. The authorities plan to carry out a further archeological dig at the site ("Police ignored as Chinese treasure hunters dig up 500kg of Qing dynasty coins" South China Morning Post Thursday, 05 January, 2017)
Tis news story illustrated very well that the concerns of the archeologists are not so much preservation of the artifacts, but control. Also huge hoards like this show that Chines cash coins like this are hardly rare artefacts of cultural significance and should be released for sale to collectors who will preserve and display them.
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