Archaeologists found treasure of silver Celtic coins

Slovak Spectator ^ | November 24, 2018 | SITA, Compiled by Spectator staff

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Archaeologists found a treasure of Celtic coins in Mosskaovce near Turãianske Teplice. The finding of 40 coins contains the most precious coins that Celts minted in this era, so-called tetradrachms.

"The Celts had highly-developed coin system; tetradrachms have four times the higher value of other nominals," explains Karol Pieta, deputy of director from Archaeological Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) in Nitra, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

Tetradrachms are about nine to ten grams in weight, as if they have four drachms inside, which were the smallest coins in that time, Pieta explains.

It is highly probable that they are minted from silver originating from a Carpathian (Slovak) deposit. The economic power of Celts in the Slovak area was to a considerable extent based on using natural resources, especially gold, silver and iron. The Turiec region belonged among the key economic and cultural centres of Celts in Slovakia, Pieta added.

Archaeologists are carrying out a systematic research in the cadastre of Mosskaovce village as well as in the cadastres of other villages in connection to wood mining, due to the bark beetle calamity.

They were lucky to overtake raiders who find precious findings with metal detectors in Slovakia and then sell them or exchange with other collectors.

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Ancient coins were handmade -- the metal was made in equal weight, then reheated, flattened out in a more or less round shape, then the dyes were used to hand-hammer the heads and tails, separately. Some coins have survived that were reused back then, and the original art and provenance can be figured out. No, I don't have any examples ready to hand. In Roman times, the Emperor Tiberius had a Mueller type who was railroading people into prison cells , exiles, and early graves, by the name of Aelius Sejanus. Sejanus was eventually raised to the level of probably successor to Tiberius, then his plot (with one of Tiberius' nieces) was uncovered, he was arrested, and strangled in his prison cell (not stabbed, as was shown in the BBC "I Claudius"). During his professional pinnacle he'd had the authority to mint coins, but after his death they were restruck, and most people would have them restruck somewhere, rather than be seen with any of them. Only 12 or so are known to have survived. I'd imagine there are at least a few more waiting in clay jars on ancient wrecks.