Team finds lost U.K., Japan coins

WAKAYAMA (Kyodo) A Japanese-Turkish research team announced Monday the discovery of a British-minted gold coin and a Japanese silver coin from a Turkish warship that sank 120 years ago off Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture.

Sunken treasure: A £1 British coin (left) and ¥1 silver coin, both discovered at a sunken Turkish warship off Wakayama Prefecture, are displayed Monday in Kushimoto. KYODO PHOTO

"Still there should be lots of gold coins" inside the ship Ertugrul, said Tufan Turanli, who heads the underwater archaeological team.

The gold coin, dated 1856, measures 2.2 cm in diameter and weighs 8 grams.

Ertugrul, a 76-meter wooden ship of the Ottoman Turks, sank in a typhoon in 1890 after the Turkish delegation on board delivered a message and decoration to Emperor Meiji.

Of the 650 crew members, 69 were rescued by local residents. The rescue has become a symbol of Japan-Turkey friendship.

The gold coin was retrieved at a depth of 12 meters.

The team, which launched a three-year survey in 2008, has already discovered about 5,800 items from the wreck.