The two large-sized coins dating back to the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945) were discovered in the central province of Quang Binh earlier this month.

Ngo Thanh Anh, a citizen in Cam Thuy commune, Le Thuy District, Quang Binh Province, found the coins on November 8 when he was gardening on his premises. The two coins had a diameter of 12 centimetres, were 0.5cm thick and had a square-shaped hole in the middle.

These coins were used during the reigns of Minh Mang (1791-1841) and Gia Long (1762-1820) under the Nguyen dynasty. They were gifted to people who had made great contributions to the court at that time, and not to purchase goods.

One of the coins has dragon-head-to-the-sun patterns on the surface, and on the back of the other coin there is an image of Ngo Mon (Southern Gate) in Hue Citadel and a line of Chinese scripts which means "Dai Nam's precious national object".

These are precious coins from Nguyen dynasty which need to be preserved and researched, an expert from provincial museum of Quang Binh said.

VNS