Historical treasures: Coins dating back to 200 BC given to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Archeology dept takes custody of about 26,000 coins, which were dumped in a federal storage in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Directorate of Archeology has taken custody of about 26,000 rare coins, some of which date back to 200 BC. 

For the past two months, the coins were being sorted and catalogued by officials of the archeology department.

An official, who requested not to be named, told The Express Tribune that these coins were dumped in a storage facility of the federal archeology department in Peshawar. The details of 2,800 coins have so far been documented, while 14,000 others have been counted.

“These coins were packed in four boxes at this storage facility when we took them from the federal archeology following the 18th Amendment,” the official said. They were stuffed in bags, some of them weighing 70 kilogrammes, he added.

Each coin is being measured, weighed, and their time periods are being examined. They are also being photographed and a number is allotted to them before being packed in plastic sheets. This is the first time the coins have been properly documented.



The coins date back from 200 BC during the Indo-Greek period to the Sikhs in the 19th century and were probably recovered in raids aimed to foil smuggling. The verification and paperwork is a long task and could take months to complete, the official said.

Dr Naeem Qazi, an archeologist at the University of Peshawar, said that the proper way to deal with confiscated items is to document them first. He praised the archeology department for the initiative and their professionalism in dealing with this historical treasure.

Dr Qazi cautioned, however, that storage of such items is a constant process and should not be treated as a onetime exercise.

“In our region, humidity increases in summer and we cannot protect the coins against the weather,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2012.