Bulgarian customs official at Sofia Airport prevented on Thursday an attempt to smuggle an ancient coin treasure out of the country.

The authorities uncovered and seized a collection of 82 silver tetradrachms dating back to the rule of Philip II of Macedon in the middle of IV century B.C.

Some of the coins were minted with the image of the king, portraying him with a wreath on the head and date back to 359-336 B.C.

According to the expertise, the coins are part of a collective find and are of extraordinary cultural value.

Each of the coins is a cultural treasure as stipulated in the Cultural Heritage Act, the press service of the National Customs Agency informs.

The coins have also priceless scientific value as to date they have been completely unknown to historical studies.

The treasure should have been smuggled out of the country with a courier service from Bulgaria to the USA and the coins were concealed in three routers.