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An avid metal detectorist recently stumbled upon an intriguing find at an old Australian Gold Rush campsite, despite not finding any gold.
Angus James, a treasure enthusiast from Victoria, Australia, was scanning an abandoned sports field, locally referred to as a sports oval, on January 24 when he unearthed a peculiar coin.
This site, located north of Ballarat, had historically served as a campsite during the Australian Gold Rush, a significant event that kicked off in 1851 and spanned several decades.
As James dug into the soil, he discovered the coin was of Japanese origin and crafted from bronze.
This was far from an ordinary piece of currency.
It was a 100 Mon Tempo Tsuho, a coin that held modest purchasing power and was commonly used for small, everyday transactions in 19th-century Japan.
Interestingly, the characters on the coin are Chinese, even though it was produced in Japan during the mid-19th century — a common practice at the time.
Unearthing the artifact was “such a buzz,” James told Fox News Digital. “Finding a Japanese coin this old in Australia is extremely rare.”
“I have found Chinese coins from the Gold Rush era… To find a Japanese coin this old is a great discovery.”
James shared his finds on Facebook. When he first uncovered the coin, he said he felt immediate excitement — and intrigue.
“At first I had no idea what it was because I have never found anything like it,” he said.
He was “not expecting to find something so unique in the area,” he added, as his eyes were originally set on Australian coins and jewelry. He’s even found gold nuggets in recent weeks.
He described the site as “extremely old,” adding that it was originally a campsite. He said it hadn’t been used as a sports field since the 1950s.
“I have started to uncover other relics, including a belt buckle dated around the 1840s, and a trade token coin with the date 1855,” said James.
“I can’t wait to see what else I can detect from this location.”
And for those interested in metal detecting, James raved about the hobby, encouraging people to “go for it.”
“Metal detecting is such a great hobby,” he said.
“You get great exercise [and] fresh air, and you can also find some pretty amazing things,” he said.
“I take my young boys with me all the time. They absolutely love it also.”
The artifact is among several coin-related discoveries that were recently uncovered, thanks to metal detecting.
This winter, the children of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders found ancient coins in a previously-unknown cave in the West Bank.
In Scotland, a metal detectorist recently handed over the oldest Scotland-made coin ever found to the country’s national museum.