Nguyen Duc Dung, a worker from Le Ninh farm in Quang Ninh district, central Quang Binh province, has found a jar of ancient coins 50cm deep in a field of Ham Ninh commune.

The terracotta jar, 40cm high, contains nearly 20kg of copper coins with holes in the middle. The coins are of different sizes and thickness and have several carved patterns. They are all stained due to oxidization.

Tran Anh Tuan, Director of the Quang Binh provincial museum, said the coins date from the eighth or ninth century, when the feudal economy was prosperous and able to produce thick coins from pure copper with clear and fine decorative patterns.

According to locals, a 150-year-old well is situated 100m from the site where the coin jar was discovered.