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Tuesday, 3rd November 2009 (610 views)

A significant haul of gold treasure found in Bulgaria 40 years ago has still not gone on public display.

The hoard - which consists of 80kg of gold and other coins believed to have been part of Alexander the Great's treasury - is currently being kept under lock and key at the Pernik Museum of History in the country.

Simeon Milyov, head of the museum, told Standart News that more funds - some 8,000 levs (£3,676) - are needed before the establishment can erect a gallery to display the rare coins.

The treasure was found by two farmers near the Breznik village of Rezhantsi in 1968 while ploughing a field. Some of the coins were subsequently lost.

It is believed that the gold pieces - which date back to the fourth century BC and feature images of Philip II of Macedon, Alexander III of Macedon and Patraeus, a Paeonian ruler - were to be used to pay Alexander the Great's army.

One of the biggest gold treasure discoveries in Bulgaria took place in 1949, when a hoard of Thracian gold vessels was found by three factory workers near Panagyuriste.

 

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