CAIRO: Egyptian archaeologists have discovered two fourth-century gold coins dating back to the reign of Roman emperor Valens, the first such find in Egypt, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said on Sunday.
The two coins were discovered by a team of archaeologists led by antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass near the St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula.
This is the first time that we discover gold coins which date back to this emperor who ruled Rome from Egypt, while similar coins have been discovered around (Syria and Lebanon), Hawass said in a statement.
The coins bear the face of the emperor on one side wearing a laurel crown while the other side depicts the emperor in military attire, said Tarek El-Naggar, the head of Coptic and Islamic archaeology at the council.
Valens ruled from 368 to 374 AD. -AFP
