It lay hidden for 2,000 years in Afghanistan, eluded the Taliban and escaped dozens of adventurers and bounty hunters. Now the Bactrian hoard, one of the world’s greatest archaeological collections, has been found. President Hamid Karzai discovered the 20,000 gold coins and artefacts, worth tens of millions of pounds, in a sealed vault under the main palace in the capital, Kabul, after ordering it to be opened earlier this year. No one expected it to contain the treasure, dating from Alexander the Great’s conquest of Afghanistan in 327BC. The vault was thought to hold £60 million of bullion hidden by the state bank more than a decade ago. ‘We opened one box and saw the gold,’ Karzai said. ‘Everything is safe and in its place.’ Full Story