Ruins of 2,000-year-old coin workshop found in central China’s Henan province

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a mint that is believed to have been used to produce coins 2,000 years ago in central China.

The workshop was discovered at the site of an ancient government office in Nanyang, Henan province, local newspaper Dahe Daily reported.

“The ruins were uncovered by pouring rain,” He Yujian, head of the Nanyang cultural relics bureau, told Xinhua.

Archaeologists first uncovered fragments of ceramic coin moulds at the site when they were carrying out repairs after heavy rain in late 2017, according to media reports.

A joint team from the local and provincial cultural relics and archaeology institutes later found nine areas of relics and one kiln site with eight ash pits.

They also found copper coins, copper smelting slag, pottery shards, animal bones and a large number of coin mould fragments.