JAKARTA, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Tens of thousands of artifacts recovered from a sunken ship near the Indonesian island of Java may eventually be auctioned, the BBC said.
While most of the 150,000 artifacts are expected to be given to museums in Indonesia, those that are to be sold could potentially amount to between $2 million and $10 million in overall sales, the BBC reported Sunday.
The artifacts were salvaged from a ship estimated to be 1,000 years old and reflect the rich history of the Asian nation and nearby China as well.
"It is an extraordinary finding because on the ship we can find artifacts that come from five Chinese dynasties. And also we can find another artifact that indicates there was a spread of Islam in Indonesia from the 10th Century," said Siawaori Nissia, the secretary for Indonesia's sunken treasure committee.
The BBC said that the auction is still a long way off as tens of thousands of the artifacts still are awaiting official certification.
