Egypt finds coins dating to Roman Emperor Valens

CAIRO (Reuters) - Archaeologists have discovered two gold coins in the Sinai peninsula dating to the era of Eastern Roman Emperor Valens that are the first of their kind to be found in Egypt, its antiquities council said on Sunday.

Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said excavations at a site west of St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai unearthed two coins containing images of Valens, who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 364 to 378 AD.

Valens attacked the Visigoths in 378 AD near Adrianople in a battle often viewed as marking the start of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The Gothic cavalry routed the Romans, killing over 20,000 people, including Valens.

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Michael Winfrey)