Scientists Unearth 600-year-old Chinese Coin in Kenya

Researchers unearthed a rare 600-year-old Chinese coin in a remote island in the east of Africa, reigniting the debate of Chinese first presence in the black continent.

The discovery announced Wednesday was made in the island of Manda, off the coast of Kenya, and the finding was credited to a team of scientists with the Field Museum, in Chicago.

The coin bears the inscription of who researchers believe was its issuer – the Emperor Yongle of China, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China, reigning from 1402 to 1424 – and it stands as a factual evidence that the African-Chinese ties precede the European expansion in the black continent.

The discovery resulted of a joint expedition by American and Kenyan researchers, led by Chapurukha Kusimba of the museum and Sloan Williams of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“The coin proves trade existed between China and eastern Africa decades before European explorers set sail,” said Kusimba.

A true rarity, the coin is made of silver and silver, and it has a square hole in the center – probably so that it could be worn on a belt.

The expedition responsible for the discovery was comprised of scientists from Kenya, Pennsylvania and Ohio participated in the expedition. With the coin they also found human remains and other artifacts predating the coin.