Warehouse Employees Stumble on 15 Wooden Boxes With Hidden Treasure From WWII: Uncover 500,000 Rare 'Phantom' Coins
Kyoto revisited its haunting past with the discovery of 500,000 phantom coins inside its premises. These coins were circulated briefly during World War II in the city, to keep its flourishing pottery industry functional, Arkeonews reported.
The coins came into use because Japan faced an extreme metal shortage during the war. To keep the currency flowing, authorities made coins out of ceramics. The innovative idea ended with a sad conclusion, as most coins were destroyed after the war.
(Image Source: Getty Images/Photo by Evgenii Mitroshin)
The coins were found by representatives of Shofu Inc. in August 2023, Interesting Engineering reported. They were stashed in 15 wooden boxes placed inside a warehouse, normally used to store dental equipment. There were 500,000 coins in total, and all of them were 1-sen in value.
The coins were reddish and 15 millimeters in diameter. The same design pattern was followed for all the coins. One side had an illustration of a cherry blossom while the other side had the majestic Mount Fuji.
Researchers are yet to understand how these coins reached the warehouse. People were shocked when the discovery was announced as it was previously believed that all of these 'phantom' coins had been destroyed in the aftermath of war. As important artifacts from the time of war, these coins are now of immense value.
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The coins are currently being held by the Japanese Mint. Shofu was allowed to keep 100 coins from the hoard as a token of appreciation. Experts associated with the Mint are ecstatic with the discovery and are now looking forward to analyzing the manufacturing process behind the ceramic coins.
The coins will soon go on display at the Mint Museum and will have a tour in Saitama and Hiroshima, Interesting Engineering reported. "We hope that the recent discovery of so many ceramic coins will lead to new discoveries about the circumstances surrounding currency manufacturing at the end of the Pacific War," Mint stated. "In the future, we plan to conduct a detailed investigation into the condition of the discovered ceramic coins while also referring to materials remaining in the Mint’s collection, which we hope will shed more light on the manufacturing conditions at the time."