Ancient bronze coins found near old Silk Road

More than a dozen copper coins are unearthed in Xiji county, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, once the northeast part of Silk Road, Oct 10, 2012. The coins were made of bronze, with animal images and hieroglyphic symbols on each side. Each one weighs about 2.4-3.7 grams and is 1.2-1.5 centimeters in diameter, and 0.25 centimeters in thickness. They were found to be handed down from the the Kushan Empire (AD30-375), an ancient central Asia dynasty and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan. The Kushan coin had great historic value along the ancient Silk Road and was generally made in the Greek style and of gold, silver and bronze materials. [Photo/Xinhua]