When archeologist Hiroyuki Miyagi heard that a bunch ofancient Roman and Ottoman coins had been unearthed from the ruinsof an old castle in Okinawa, he initially thought it was ahoax.

"I couldn't believe they'd found coins from theRoman empire in Kasturen castle," Miyagi, who works atOkinawa International University, told CNN.

"I thought that they were replicas that had been droppedthere by tourists."

Since 2013, a team of archeologists from Uruma city'slocal Board of Education has been excavating Katsuren castle -- aUNESCO world heritage site -- which is located in Okinawa,Japan's southernmost prefecture.

Yet the ancient coins -- ten in total -- were onlydiscovered recently when Toshio Tsukamoto, a researcher fromGangoji temple cultural properties department, spotted them whenhe traveled to the castle from Nara. The Uruma Board of Educationannounced their discovery Monday.

"I'd come to analyze artifacts like Japanese samuraiarmor that had been found there when I spotted the coins,"Tsukamoto, told CNN.

"I'd been on excavation sites in Egypt and Italy andhad seen a lot of Roman coins before, so I recognized themimmediately." The coins were later submitted to Miyagi, whoexamined them using X-ray technology.

"You can see the engravings on the coins clearer when youuse X-rays," Miyagi, told CNN.

The archeologist found that the Ottoman coin hadinscriptions that dated it to 1687, while the Roman coinsappeared to be much older -- from at least 300 to 400 AD.

It's hard to tell where exactly these coins came from,Masaki Yokou, a spokesperson from Uruma city's Board ofEducation, told CNN.

Dubbing it a "strange and interesting find," Yokouexplained that Katsuren castle was known to have trade relationswith China and other neighboring Asian countries in the 14th and15th century.

"We don't think that there is a direct link betweenthe Roman empire and Katsuren castle, but the discovery confirmshow this region had trade relations with the rest of Asia,"Yokou, told CNN.

Both Yokou and Tsukamoto speculated that the coins ended up inJapan after passing through different trade routes that linkedthe West to Asia.

Miyagi, who called the discovery "remarkable," saidthe next step was to try and find out how exactly these coinsended up in Japan.

To read the complete article, see:
Ancient Roman coins found in ruined Japanese castle(www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/luxury/ancient-roman-coins-japan/)

The four copper coins were retrieved from soil beneathKatsuren Castle on Okinawa Island, and were originally thought tobe a hoax before their true provenance was revealed.

The designs on the coins are difficult to decipher as theyhave been eroded over time, but x-ray analysis revealed severalof the relics bore the image of Emperor Constantine I.

Since excavation on the site began in 2013, researchers havealso found a further six coins which may be dated back to theOttoman Empire in the late 17th century.

To read the complete article, see:
Ancient Roman coins found buried under ruins of Japanese castleleave archaeologists baffled(www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/roman-coins-discovery-castle-japan-okinawa-buried-ancient-currency-a7332901.html)

Phil Mernick forwarded an article from MSN News, Hewrites:

To read the Daily Mail article, see:
How did these Ancient Roman coins get to JAPAN? Artefacts arefound thousands of miles from where they were made(www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3811089/Ancient-Roman-coins-unearthed-Japan-castle.html)

To read the Smithsonian article, see:
Archaeologist Finds Ancient Roman Coins in 12th-Century JapaneseCastle(www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologist-finds-ancient-roman-coins-12th-century-japanese-castle-180960640/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&no-ist)