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Riddle of ancient Egyptian coin in Australia


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Ancient Egyptian visitors to Australia or miner's mishap? Riddle of the rainforest coin

9708810-3x2-700x467.jpg

 

Unearthed in 1912, squirreled away for a lifetime and then handed in to a museum — the story behind the discovery of an ancient Egyptian coin in far north Queensland is almost as mysterious as how it came to be there.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-02/far-north-queenslands-egyptian-coin-mystery/9708318

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What an interesting story. How cool would it be to find something as unusual as an ancient Egyptian coin right here in Australia....and to think that the guy who first found it threw it away in a drawer for 40 years and basically forgot about it.

So glad to know that the 10 year old boy (at the time) whom the old man had given the coin to had looked after it for so long. 

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3 hours ago, Captain Risky said:

Ancient Egyptian visitors to Australia or miner's mishap? Riddle of the rainforest coin

9708810-3x2-700x467.jpg

 

Unearthed in 1912, squirreled away for a lifetime and then handed in to a museum — the story behind the discovery of an ancient Egyptian coin in far north Queensland is almost as mysterious as how it came to be there.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-02/far-north-queenslands-egyptian-coin-mystery/9708318

Well...if it is a hoax at least they did their research. Coins weren't minted in Egypt until the Ptolemaic Period. With that being said, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of transoceanic contact between Ptolemaic Egypt and the New World. Improbable? Certainly. Impossible? Hardly.

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There were quite a few Australian soldiers stationed in North Africa during WWI. I'd say that's the explanation...except as I recall, Aussies weren't in Egypt during WWI till 1914. The coin is supposed to have been found in 1912.

But who do we know the coin was actully found in 1912?

Cool story, nonetheless.

As a point of correction in the article, I am not aware of any Egyptologist who believes ancient Egyptians visited Australia.

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1 hour ago, kmt_sesh said:

There were quite a few Australian soldiers stationed in North Africa during WWI. I'd say that's the explanation...except as I recall, Aussies weren't in Egypt during WWI till 1914. The coin is supposed to have been found in 1912.

But who do we know the coin was actully found in 1912?

Cool story, nonetheless.

As a point of correction in the article, I am not aware of any Egyptologist who believes ancient Egyptians visited Australia.

yes sesh, there is no need to straw man the article. no one is presenting any proof of Egyptian expeditions to Australia. just that a rare coin was found where it shouldn't have been. 

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7 hours ago, Captain Risky said:

yes sesh, there is no need to straw man the article. no one is presenting any proof of Egyptian expeditions to Australia. just that a rare coin was found where it shouldn't have been. 

Yes quite understandable, as a child I was often found in places I shouldn't have been.

jmccr8

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7 hours ago, Captain Risky said:

yes sesh, there is no need to straw man the article. no one is presenting any proof of Egyptian expeditions to Australia. just that a rare coin was found where it shouldn't have been. 

You're posting in the ancient mysteries forum rather than the modern mysteries forum though. There's an unspoken implication.

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11 hours ago, kmt_sesh said:

There were quite a few Australian soldiers stationed in North Africa during WWI. I'd say that's the explanation...except as I recall, Aussies weren't in Egypt during WWI till 1914. The coin is supposed to have been found in 1912.

But who do we know the coin was actully found in 1912?

Cool story, nonetheless.

As a point of correction in the article, I am not aware of any Egyptologist who believes ancient Egyptians visited Australia.

I agree that it's a modern souvenir (Ptolemaic coins are not THAT valuable) and likely someone's luck piece.  It could have even been sent through the mails to someone in Australia.

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5 hours ago, Oniomancer said:

You're posting in the ancient mysteries forum rather than the modern mysteries forum though. There's an unspoken implication.

Had no idea there was a ‘modern myteries’ Section. and even if there was a modern myteries section what makes you think that a two thousand year old coin found over a hundred years ago deserves to be posted there?

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15 hours ago, kmt_sesh said:

There were quite a few Australian soldiers stationed in North Africa during WWI. I'd say that's the explanation...except as I recall, Aussies weren't in Egypt during WWI till 1914. The coin is supposed to have been found in 1912.

But who do we know the coin was actully found in 1912?

Cool story, nonetheless.

As a point of correction in the article, I am not aware of any Egyptologist who believes ancient Egyptians visited Australia.

Weren’t Aussie troops billeted in Egypt prior to engaging in the Boer War as well?

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17 hours ago, Captain Risky said:

yes sesh, there is no need to straw man the article. no one is presenting any proof of Egyptian expeditions to Australia. just that a rare coin was found where it shouldn't have been. 

Well, since there were no ancient Egyptians in Australia, I was trying to think of a more logical and reliable explanation.

Plus, I'm a little confused by your protestations of innocence. You're the one who started/defended threads on transatlantic contact and a 10,000-year-old Sphinx. I am quite innocent in this, eh.

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9 hours ago, Oniomancer said:

You're posting in the ancient mysteries forum rather than the modern mysteries forum though. There's an unspoken implication.

Yes, this. ^^ But Risky didn't know about that forum (I rarely visit it myself), so he can be forgiven.

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13 minutes ago, kmt_sesh said:

Well, since there were no ancient Egyptians in Australia, I was trying to think of a more logical and reliable explanation.

Plus, I'm a little confused by your protestations of innocence. You're the one who started/defended threads on transatlantic contact and a 10,000-year-old Sphinx. I am quite innocent in this, eh.

No offence mate but I would have rathered you read the article in full before commenting about what could have happened. the article clearly states that the coin was found on an old aboriginal walking tract. Now I don’t wanna discount your theory but it would seem the more logical choice to explore the possibilities that it came to be there from aboriginals than say a contact through a soldier or Australia post or what ever simplistic excuse that conincidently is after the fact. 

So that being said innocent of what?

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23 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

No offence mate but I would have rathered you read the article in full before commenting about what could have happened. the article clearly states that the coin was found on an old aboriginal walking tract. Now I don’t wanna discount your theory but it would seem the more logical choice to explore the possibilities that it came to be there from aboriginals than say a contact through a soldier or Australia post or what ever simplistic excuse that conincidently is after the fact. 

So that being said innocent of what?

Innocent of your ever-present penchant for attempting to "correct" me.

That being said, how would an aboriginal have ended up with the coin? Trade, perhaps? A gift from someone who had visited Egypt?

Editing to add: By the way, I did read the article. The coin having been found on an aboriginal trackways isn't really confirmation of anything. Is it impossible for someone of European descent to have walked the same path?

Edited by kmt_sesh
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For what it’s worth (and I’m pretty sure I know how little it is worth), I’m with the Captain on this. I think this was the right forum to post this in, and I think it’s a little uncharitable to assume he had an unspoken agenda in doing so.

I thought it was an interesting story and I’m glad he shared. 

 

—Jaylemurph 

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Risky, the other day they found agrenade on an Aboriginal walking track. Doesn’t mean the folks walking that track in the Dreaming had grenades.

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1 hour ago, Sir Wearer of Hats said:

Risky, the other day they found agrenade on an Aboriginal walking track. Doesn’t mean the folks walking that track in the Dreaming had grenades.

Well lets leave your granade anology for now and concentrate on some facts... the region we’re talking about was only really settled by white fellas 30 to 40 years before the date the gentleman found the ancient coin. Probably was the first owner of that property and in all likely hood one of very few white people to tread on that tract of land. That’s not to say that he was the only one BUT certainly one of very few. It’s a rare coin. Doesn’t belong there and since he made no money from his story OR any claims you’d be flogging a dead horse to prove him a liar. 

it’s on an aboriginal track. Found buried under a foot or so of soil. 

Now im gonna go out on a limb on this one and say that the coin was once in the possession of an aboriginal that had no historical knowledge of what he had. 

Of course I’m prepared to accept that it might have been traded at some point long ago by traders from Asia. It might also have been found by the aboriginals, left there by someone else... it might also have been dropped by a returned soldier before WW1 that decided to go someplace no one had ever been before, or very few, and lost the coin and outta his grief left and never returned.

but the chances of that coin not being dropped by an aboriginal walking a hunting tract are pretty slim. 

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2 hours ago, kmt_sesh said:

Innocent of your ever-present penchant for attempting to "correct" me.

That being said, how would an aboriginal have ended up with the coin? Trade, perhaps? A gift from someone who had visited Egypt?

Editing to add: By the way, I did read the article. The coin having been found on an aboriginal trackways isn't really confirmation of anything. Is it impossible for someone of European descent to have walked the same path?

Not my intention to correct anyone but I can’t bloody well have a conservation with someone that doesn’t know the facts, now can I?

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2 hours ago, jaylemurph said:

For what it’s worth (and I’m pretty sure I know how little it is worth), I’m with the Captain on this. I think this was the right forum to post this in, and I think it’s a little uncharitable to assume he had an unspoken agenda in doing so.

I thought it was an interesting story and I’m glad he shared. 

 

—Jaylemurph 

Stop being a suck ****. It demeans us both. 

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21 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Not my intention to correct anyone but I can’t bloody well have a conservation with someone that doesn’t know the facts, now can I?

Captain, I can't actually speak to you so just pretend I'm saying this really slowly: I read the damn article. I commented on it. Stop inventing complaints where none are appropriate.

And I'm put off by your reply to jayle. I found his post sincere. Dial down the attitude, please. There is no cause for artificial righteous indignation.

To all of us, enough of the petty bickering. Let's stay on track and discuss the situation in the OP, or leave the thread. 

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38 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Not my intention to correct anyone but I can’t bloody well have a conservation with someone that doesn’t know the facts, now can I?

Trust anyone who’s ever interacted with you: you’re right. 

—Jaylemurph

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I think the “fell out of the pocket of someone on the way to the nearest goldfield” is probsbly the safest bet. It might have been someone’s lucky charm. It might be like th five dollar note that someone has drawn a Hitler moustache on Betty’s face that has thus far passed through my household three times in three different people’s wallets from four different stores this year - the coin in question having passed from Paul, to George to John to Ringo to Pete.... and so on until it ended up here, on a track, all the way from Egypt.

Edited by Sir Wearer of Hats
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1 hour ago, Captain Risky said:

Not my intention to correct anyone but I can’t bloody well have a conservation with someone that doesn’t know the facts, now can I?

Speaking about the facts; the article said it was found ‘about seven centimetres underground’, which is pretty far from the ‘under a foot or so’ you mentioned.

Thought you’d appreciate the correction. 

Edit: And I don’t doubt the story, but the only real fact is that this coin does exist. The rest may not be accurate. 

I think someone has brought it back relatively recently and it had simply been lost on the track.

Edited by Timonthy
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6 minutes ago, Timonthy said:

Speaking about the facts; the article said it was found ‘about seven centimetres underground’, which is pretty far from the ‘under a foot or so’ you mentioned.

Thought you’d appreciate the correction. 

To us Americans who suck at metrics, seven centimeters is a little less than three inches.

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