Eastern Roman gold coins found in Shaanxi

Relics are found at a tomb of the Western Wei Dynasty (535-556) in Xixian New Area, Northwest China's Shaanxi province. The tomb's owner, Lu Chou, died in 548 and the burial artifacts excavated include intact colored pottery figurines, camel figures and, most importantly, two gold coins from the Eastern Roman Empire and a silver coin from Persia. The gold coins are thought to be the earliest foreign currency coins to have been found in China. Xu Weihong, from the Shannxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, said the findings further proved the long history of the ancient Silk Road trade route. [Photo/hsw.cn]