Chamarajanagar: Laborers found 93 ancient coins believed to be from the time of Hyder Ali here at Haradanahalli a village in Chamarajanagar on Monday.

The incident took place while Siddique, a resident and four of his laborers were digging a pit to construct a toilet and found the coins.

The laborers were asked to dig out eight feet of the land but were forced to stop at five feet when they came across a pot full of gold coins.

One of the laborer escaped the spot and tried to sell it to a pawnbroker. Other laborers gave the coins to house owner. The escaped laborer was arrested by the police while trying to sell it and fetch some money. The pawnbroker sent him away saying that the coin was not an original one and it would not fetch him any money.

However the pawnbriker informed police. The archaeological department officials visited the spot as per information given by the police and recovered the coins. It is said that the coins belong to late 18th century and early 19th century during the rule of Hyder Ali and later the region was under Marathas.

The coins have been taken into custody by the archaeological department. Police inspector Muttaraj, DySP Mahantesh Muppinamatt arrived to the spot to investigate further.