A collection of British-era coins and prehistoric fossils has been recovered from the seabed off the coast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, marking a significant discovery for scientific and archaeological communities.

The underwater finds provide a unique insight into both the colonial history and the ancient geological past of the Bay of Bengal.

An exhibition in Visakhapatnam is currently displaying rocks and coins dating back to the era of dinosaurs, surprising visitors with the variety and age of the artefacts. Organised by archaeology scholars, the exhibition showcases fossils that are thousands of years old, rocks with distinctive wood-like textures, and relics retrieved from the depths of oceans and lakes.

Shaswati Jagatpatnaik, a research scholar from Andhra University, described the exhibition as a “living testimony” and a bridge connecting humanity’s origins to modern independence. She noted it features an extensive collection of fossils, regional heritage items, and ancient coinage from dynasties including the Satavahanas and Mauryas.

Jagatpatnaik said: “We are witnessing here today what you can say is a bridge of the past mixed with that of the present itself. And this exhibition is the living testimony of it. Not only it features a private collection of the not only coins and fossils starting from the dawn of humanity up until the modern day British times but also it features all the pictures as well as visual representations of the heritage sites popular around Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, along with a brief history of Andhra University, the display of which can be seen in the front here.”

She added: “Basically, the coin collection presented here starts from the early age of the Mahajanapadas and goes on up until 1947, the Indian independence movement. And the prominent dynasties whose coins are featured here include Satavahanas, Ikshvakus, Vishnukundinas, Mauryas, and Guptas, alongside some foreign variety coins.”