Mundane field in Poland hid unusual 150-year-old artifact — until now. Take a look
A man searching an average-looking field in northwestern Poland stumbled on an unusual 150-year-old artifact. The item’s far-away origin surprised him — and left experts with questions.
Albert Murzynowski visited a farmer’s field in Kamień Pomorski when he unearthed an oddly shaped coin, the Museum of the History of the Kamieńska Region said in a Nov. 24 Facebook post. He gave the find to officials, who quickly identified it as a Japanese 100-mon coin minted sometime between 1835 to 1870.
Photos show the 150-year-old coin’s distinctive oval shape, square central hole and inscription.
Hundred-mon coins were made toward the end of Japan’s Edo period, which began in 1603 and ended in 1868, the museum said. The copper or bronze coins were widely circulated domestically and internationally after Japan opened itself to the world in the 1850s.
But how did a Japanese coin end up thousands of miles away in Poland? Museum experts aren’t sure but offered a few theories.
The 100-mon coin could have been brought to Poland by a merchant or sailor connected to the Dutch East India Company, one of the limited contact points between Japan and Europe in the 19th century, the museum said.
Alternatively, the Japanese coin may have been a traveler’s souvenir or brought by a collector and lost at a later date.
Museum experts described the 150-year-old coin as a unique and unusual item and as significant for revealing global connections of the 19th century.
The museum did not specify if Murzynowski used a metal detector to find the coin.
Murzynowski’s find will be cleaned and put on display at the Museum of the History of the Kamieńska Region.
Kamień Pomorski is a coastal town in northwestern Poland, a roughly 390-mile drive northwest from Warsaw and near the border with Germany.
Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from the Museum of the History of the Kamieńska Region.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Mundane field in Poland hid unusual 150-year-old artifact — until now. Take a look."
