The discovery of an eighteenth century Chinese cash coin on Elcho Island, Northern Territory

An eighteenth century Chinese cash coin was recently found on a remote Northern Territory island east of Darwin during a heritage training workshop. Whereas most inds of this type of coin in Australia are associated with Chinese gold mining communities, the
location of this ind suggests it is associated with the Macassan trade, which for at least 150 years brought people from modern day Indonesia to collect trepang and trade with the Indigenous communities across northern Australia. he paper also touches upon the role
of metal detection technology in cultural heritage studies in Australia.