NANJING, China, June 5 (UPI) -- A cache of about 200,000 ancient coins has been discovered in a well at a construction site in Suzhou in eastern China, archaeologists say.

The king's ransom of coins, weighing in at about 4 tons, are likely from the Northern Son Dynasty, which ran from A.D. 960 to A.D. 1126, the state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday.


The city's archaeological institute said archaeologists went to the site after construction workers came upon the coins Wednesday. Archaeologists' conjecture is the coins may have been hidden by an unidentified wealthy family during war in the relatively prosperous region.