Many silver coins were dug up from a construction site by local residents in Luxiang Town in the Jinshan District on the afternoon of September 8, Shanghai Morning Post reports.

But very few of the stolen coins have been turned over to authorities.

On the site of the former town government office, construction workers unearthed several silver coins, prompting local villagers to loot the site.

The coins are believed to have been buried there in the early 1900s.

Local police patrolling near the site managed to stop the digging, but many villagers ran off with coins anyway.

About 30 villagers are said to have taken part in the looting, but only a few have been questioned and returned some coins.

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