# Old coins unearthed in Punjab village spark treasure hunt 2026-08-26T22:51:32+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A routine excavation to build a public library in Gharuan, Kharar, turned into a treasure hunt after children playing at the site spotted old coins on August 24. As word spread, locals rushed in and began digging for more, pocketing around 20-30 coins before the nagar panchayat stepped in to secure the area. The recovered coins are round and thick with irregular edges and a pale silver-white patina. Officials said their appearance is consistent with hand-struck silver rupees from the Mughal era or regional princely states. The Archaeological Survey of India has been informed to determine their exact origin and age. The nagar panchayat has sought police help to trace the taken coins and has deployed officials to guard the site. Excavation work has been halted until the ASI completes its survey. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958, any discovery of treasure over Rs 1,000 in value must be reported to the district magistrate, who can order a treasure trove inquiry. The coins' fate will hinge on whether the ASI declares them an antiquity, in which case they belong to the state, or a metal-detector find that could be returned to the finder after evaluation. Gharuan lies in a historically active belt: nearby Rupnagar and Sanghol have yielded coins from the Indo-Greek, Kushan and Gupta periods. The nagar panchayat's next step is to recover the missing coins and await the ASI's report on their age and origin. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Straight news report with no editorial slant, leads with the discovery and follows with official responses. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Archaeological Survey of India, Kharar, Mughal Empire, Punjab Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/old-coins-unearthed-in-punjab-village-spark-treasure-hunt/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/old-coins-unearthed-in-punjab-village-spark-treasure-hunt/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/