Massive hoard of Roman-era silver coins unearthed in Germany

Live Science ^ | November 17 or so, 2021 | Owen Jarus

[SunkenCiv]

More than 5,500 silver coins buried by a river about 1,800 years ago are now in the hands of archaeologists, following the hoard's discovery in Augsburg, Germany.

At the time of the coins' burial, the Roman Empire was in full swing, with its coinage reaching all corners of its territory and beyond.

These coins "are denarii, the standard silver denomination during the 1st-early 3rd century [A.D.]," Stefan Krmnicek, a professor of ancient numismatics (the study of coins) at the University of Tübingen in Germany, told Live Science in an email.

Archaeologists found the hoard earlier this year in an old riverbed. But though the coins were scattered in the newly dug pit, that likely wasn't how they were originally placed. "The place of hiding was probably washed away many centuries later by a flood of the Wertach river, scattering the coins in the river gravel," Krmnicek said.

"We have just started cleaning and studying the material," but so far, it appears that "the youngest coin of the hoard was minted at the beginning of the 3rd century [A.D.], thus dating the deposition of the hoard in the early 3rd century," Krmnicek said. "We currently hypothesize that the hoard was buried in the early 3rd century outside the Roman city of Augusta Vindelicum, near the Via Claudia Augusta [a Roman road] running there."

At that time, Augusta Vindelicum was the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, Krmnicek said. Why the hoard was buried is an ongoing mystery that researchers are trying to solve.

[SunkenCiv]

About 5,500 Roman silver coins were found in the hoard. Cleaning and analysis of the coins is underway.

Image credit: Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg, Stadtarchäologie, Photo: Andreas Brücklmair

[SunkenCiv]

• All that glistened was gold: Roman coin study reveals thriving empires [16 Nov 2021]

[SaveFerris]

None marked B. C.?

😜

[Vendome]

I thought I hit that hoard really good but, to no Avail I suppose...

Oh well...

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

A young Roman woman met with a banker in Augusta Vindelicum with a large number of denarii to invest.

“Did you hoard all this money by yourself?”

“No, my sister hoard half of it.”

[algore]

no bc coins, Vancouver has been cut of from the Roman hoard by an act of God

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

I wonder if there’s a town somewhere called Stationwagoncouver?

[SunkenCiv]

A couple more recent Roman Empire articles:

Roman-Era Millstone and Mixer Makers Knew Their Rocks
https://eos.org/articles/roman-era-millstone-and-mixer-makers-knew-their-rocks

Roman aqueduct discovered in Armenia
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/11/roman-aqueduct-discovered-in-armenia/142015

[BenLurkin]

Payroll robbery?

[SunkenCiv]

Probably a moneylender's hoard, something like that. Roman banking was all private party lending.

[crusher2013]

Has retained its value for thousands of years unlike paper or digital money...

[GOP Poet]

cool!

[Rockingham]

There were also many intermittent rebellions and mutinies from episodes of Roman cruelty and misrule. The Roman imperial system was prone to such disorders.

[LukeL]

I have heard that before going off to battle the pay master of a Roman Army Unit would bury the money in a secure location until they returned and then and only then would they get paid (no sense in paying a dead guy). If the pay master died the location of the money died with him.

[Bobalu]

Roman junk silver, now going for 24 times face :-)

[Bobalu]

My coin of choice, now going for 34 times face :-)

[Bobalu]

My second choice, 6 times face...

15k/box

[lefty-lie-spy]

All I dug up this week was ¥5,000, but that’s not bad. I’m about to head out for some more metal detecting now. I dream of finding a WWII or ancient hoard.