Posted on 06/09/2021 6:09:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Brescello, the ancient municipium of Brixellum, is a small town in northern Italy near Modena. Originally, it was a Gallic settlement on banks of the Po River that was romanized after the area was annexed by the Roman republic...
It was in this city that in the year 1714 one of the most remarkable numismatic discoveries ever recorded took place. A peasant, while ploughing a field, accidentally found a vessel containing about 80,000 republican aurei, that is, approximately 650kg of pure gold!
The treasure was composed entirely of only 32 varieties of types coined between the years 46 and 38 BC, so it is quite safe to assume that it was buried in 38 or 37 BC. The latest coin identified was an aureus minted by Octavian that mentions Agrippa as consul designate for the year 37 (Crawford 534/1).
The hoard was most likely the treasure chest of a warlord of the period of civil wars. Its nominal value was 2,000,000 denarii. To put that figure on an understandable scale, it must be considered that the annual pay of a legionary in that period amounted to 250 denarii. Of course, the current value of the treasure would be much higher. A fairly conservative estimate of about $ 1000 on average for each coin gives a total value of $ 80,000,000. Undoubtedly, it is the most valuable hoard of Roman coins ever recorded, and by a wide margin...
Unfortunately, very few of the coins discovered at Brescello survived. At the beginning of the 18th century there was not a sufficiently developed numismatic market as to absorb such a number of ancient coins. Therefore, after dispersing a relatively small part, the rest was melted to mint ducats!
(Excerpt) Read more at a-coins.blogspot.com ...
sucks these coins were melted down
Any word on how the “peasant” who discovered the hoard fared in this fortuitous discovery? Did he get to keep some of the treasure? Or did he get an extra Turnip and told “get back to work”?
That would make a lot of nice gold candlesticks.
If you get a chance, watch “Detectorists” on Acorn TV, about British treasure hunters.
How tragic and awful!
Hahahaha wow, a blast from the past.
Last time I heard that joke was the only time I remember hearing it some fifty years ago!
You said it was horrible and you didn’t get through it, I’ve clicked many tube videos to only ditch.
It has a nice graphic to start.
So if you pay her with wheat pennies you get a discount, or what?
How's that work?🤔
Asking for a friend. I actually found a 1936 Buffalo nickel in my change a few months ago.
So...
How many antique infantry roman soldiers would this pay for?
You sucked me in.
I wonder what the numismatic value of those ducats is now, 400 years later?
Sorry 300 years later. Can’t even claim I ran out of fingers. Just lazy math brain tonight.
Way,way more than the melt.
Time to take my own metal detecting to the next level and break the record. C’mon baby, we can do this!
Were the coins dated “38 BC”?
makes ya wanna cry.
I would like to imagine he stashed a small amount for later. Quietly retired, and moved far away.
I found a 1943 nickel in change a few years ago. That’s as far back as I’ve ever found when paying attention. I’m sure I had pennies from that far back in earlier as a kid.
Because of their silver content, quarters from 1964 and back started becoming scarce around 1980, IIRC. Still, I’ve found a few from the early 60’s. It’s still not too hard to find “Bicentennial” (1976) quarters in your change.
;^)
He didn’t get the turnip either — as a matter of fact, after it was found out how much time he’d spent digging it up, he wasn’t even paid for the full day.
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