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Border guards seize 16th-17th century coins from Ukrainian national in Crimea

According to specialists’ preliminary estimates, some od those coins may have historical value

SIMFEROPOL, January 11. /TASS/. Russian border guards have detained a resident of Ukraine’s Kherson Region who arrived in Crimea with a collection of coins dating back presumably to the 16th-17th centuries, the Crimean Border Guard Branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Wednesday.

"A Ukrainian citizen has been detained at the border as he attempted to bring a valuable cargo [a collection of coins] into the territory of the Russian Federation. The coins have been transferred to Crimean customs officials for their subsequent dispatch for an expert study, following which a legal decision will be made," the regional border guard branch said.

The incident occurred at the Armyansk multi-lane auto checkpoint on the border of Crimea and Ukraine. The border guards who went through the foreign national’s belongings found "two polyethylene travel bags with the coins inside while an official permit for moving them across the state border was absent," the FSB said.

"It turned out that the wraps contained coins of various denominations and years of their issue, with a total number of 56 pieces. According to specialists’ preliminary estimates, some coins may have historical value as they were presumably made of precious metals and date back to the 16th and 17th centuries," the regional border guard branch said in a statement.