Roman coins discovered in Egypt

Reuters reports:

Egypt coin finds shed light on Roman past

Posted Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:39am AEST

Archaeologists have discovered two gold coins in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula dating to the era of Eastern Roman Emperor Valens.

The coins are the first of their kind to be found in Egypt, the country’s antiquities council said.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities said excavations at a site west of St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai unearthed two coins containing images of Valens, who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 364 to 378 AD.

Valens attacked the Visigoths in 378 AD near Adrianople in a battle often viewed as marking the start of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The Gothic cavalry routed the Romans, killing over 20,000 people, including Valens.