Ancient texts speak of a strange and valuable metal known as orichalcum. The mystical material was often dismissed as a fantastical invention – until they discovered a large cache of the stuff in the ...

Buried below the ancient ruins is a lode of copper ore ... of Siddhartha Gautama before he became the Buddha. Cascades of copper coins from the third to seventh centuries A.D. have also spilled ...

India's historical currency pieces, ranging from cowrie shells to coins like the Half Anna, Durmi, and Paisa, reflect the ...