A set of stone table and chairs and 10kg worth of coins, thought to be at least one thousand years old, were recently discovered separately by two locals in central Nghe An province.

While digging at a construction site in Nghia Dan District, a local discovered a set of table and chairs made from eight stone slabs. The table is made of three large slabs while five smaller slabs serve as chairs.

No set like it has ever been uncovered in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. Archeologists are currently researching the time period in which the furniture was constructed.

Some think that the set is likely to belong to the Lang Vac archeological site, which was home to Vietnam’s Dong Son culture some 2,000-2,500 years ago.

Meanwhile, while working in their garden in Vinh City on Dec 29, Nguyen Quang Tung and his wife stumbled upon a broken porcelain jar containing hundreds of antique coins.

The round coins are all about 2.4cm in diameter and 0.1cm thick. Each coin has a square hole in the middle and features Han (ancient Chinese script) on the surface. Despite being covered in rust, the Chinese characters remain legible.

The coins, many of which are oxygenated and stuck to one another, weigh almost 10kg in total.

According to Dao Tam Tinh, head of the provincial museum, the coins are likely to belong to China’s Song Dynasty (960–1279).

Tung’s garden was occupied by a wealthy landowner during the feudal times.

His discovery has drawn crowds of curious people and antique enthusiasts, some of whom offered Tung 10 million dong (US$500) for the coins, which he refused.