Coin used as bus fare turns out to be 2,000-year-old relic, its journey still a mystery

A 2,000-year-old coin was unknowingly used as bus fare in England — before officials realized it dated back to the Carthaginian empire.

The artifact, produced in what is now Cadiz, Spain, was recently donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries, according to a March statement from the City of Leeds.

Carthage, an ancient civilization based in North Africa, lasted from roughly 800 B.C. to 146 B.C. — and the coin dates to the first century B.C.

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The relic was collected in the 1950s by a Leeds City Transport employee named James Edwards, who tallied fares from bus and tram drivers at the end of each day and counted them.

Edwards would set aside coins that couldn’t be cashed — including foreign or counterfeit currency — and take them home.

He gave the ancient coin to his grandson, Peter, who stored it in a wooden chest.

Now 77, Peter Edwards recently revisited the coin and researched its origins.

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“Neither of us were coin collectors, but we were fascinated by their origin and imagery — to me, they were treasure,” said Peter Edwards.

He added, “The coin always fascinated me because it was hard to decipher where it came from.”

Edwards donated the coin to Leeds Discovery Center’s collection, a free museum that includes “coins and currency from cultures around the world spanning thousands of years of history,” the city said.

The coin may have been collected by a soldier who returned to Leeds, said a Leeds City Council spokesperson, but officials say they “will never know for sure.”

Similar coins have been found previously, the official told Fox News Digital, allowing experts to cross-reference and identify this example.

The spokesperson added that a Leeds curator confirmed the coin’s identity and provided additional background following Peter Edwards’ donation.

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The Carthaginian coin bears the image of the god Melqart, the Phoenician counterpart of Hercules.

“At that time, some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders,” Leeds City Council said in a statement.

Edwards told city officials his grandfather would be “proud” to know that the coin would come back to Leeds.

He added, “However, how it got there will always be a mystery.”