Jinshi Cultural Relics Bureau has offered 10,000 yuan (1,500 U.S. dollars) as a reward to anyone who can decode historic coins, housed in the city's museum.
Peng Jia, the director of the city's Cultural Relics Bureau says these gold coins were manufactured using the Greek coinage method during Delhi Sultanate period, some time in the middle of China's Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
The six gold coins was discovered on a farm in the southern Hunan province in the 1960s in a small white glazed pot. In 1980s, they arrived at Jinshi City's Museum and authorities have been puzzling over their markings ever since.
The coins are classified as first-level national cultural relics, meaning they are officially considered national treasures in China.
"The inscription on the front, in a rare type of Arabic, is the name of a King," said Peng.
"but the information on the back is difficult to decode. I have consulted Chinese and foreign experts, but to no avail. I hope the answer will be revealed one day."
With a diameter of roughly 25mm, the language on both sides is believed to be a form of Arabic.
Source: Xinhua News.
