1,800-year-old 'piggy banks' full of Roman-era coins unearthed in French village

Live Science ^ | December 06, 2025 | Marjanko Pilekić

[Red Badger]

A jug holding a vast number of Roman coins was found during an excavation at a French village. (Image credit: © Simon Ritz, Inrap) Archaeologists in France have discovered three ancient storage jars brimming with tens of thousands of Roman coins. The vessels were buried in pits 1,700 years ago in the house floor of an ancient settlement, possibly as a type of safe or piggy bank.

These three jugs, known as amphorae, were uncovered during excavations run by the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) in the village of Senon in northeastern France, and may contain a total of more than 40,000 Roman coins.

The first hoard held an estimated 83 pounds (38 kilograms) of coins, which "corresponds to approximately 23,000 to 24,000 coins," Vincent Geneviève, a numismatist with INRAP who is analyzing the hoards, told Live Science in an email.

Around 30 coin hoards are already known in this area, so the real significance of this find lies not in the sheer number of coins but in the detailed information about where the hoards were found.

"Contrary to what one might think at first look, it is not certain that these are 'treasures' that were hidden during a period of insecurity," according to a Nov. 26 translated statement from INRAP. Experts believe based on the dates on the coins that the amphoras were buried between A.D. 280 and 310.

Among the hoard are coins that feature busts of the emperors Victorinus, Tetricus I, and his son Tetricus II, the emperors of the so-called Gallic Empire, which ruled Gaul and the surrounding provinces independently of the rest of the Roman Empire from 260 to 274, until it was reintegrated by emperor Aurelian in 274.

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TOPICS: History; Outdoors; Society; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: aurelian; coins; crisisof3rdcentury; crisisofthirdcentury; epigraphyandlanguage; france; gallicempire; godsgravesglyphs; romanempire; senon; tetricusi; tetricusii; victorinus

[Red Badger]

Got any spare change?...............

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Among the hoard are coins that feature busts of the emperors Victorinus, Tetricus I, and his son Tetricus II, the emperors of the so-called Gallic Empire,

I watched a podcast a couple months ago about this period in Roman history. It highlighted that any pretender to the throne tried to control the Roman and, eventually, regional mint, to get their face on the coins for legitimacy.

[SunkenCiv]

a couple of related (Aurelian, Gallic Empire) keywords, sorted:

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• Coin Hoard in Germany Contains Roman and Gallic Coins [10/25/2024]
• Advice for America from Emperor Aurelian [07/26/2024]
• Looted Sculptures from Palmyra Returned to Syria [11/24/2021]
• Deformed 'alien' skulls offer clues about life during the Roman Empire's collapse [05/04/2020]
• Archaeologists Find Traces of 251 AD Invasion of Roman Empire by Goths [tr] [04/03/2018]
• Archaeologists Find Building's Portico, Governor's Residence Hypocaust in Ancient Roman [Bulgaria] [10/31/2015]
• ISIS Militants Blow up Ancient Arch of Triumph in Palmyra [10/04/2015]
• Dacian Gold's Heavy Price [05/08/2015]
• The Sarmizegetusa bracelets [01/01/2011]
• Rare coin bears good tidings for UNOs Israeli excavations [07/05/2010]
• Italy: Ancient Roman wall in 'danger' of collapse [06/12/2009]
• Romanian archaeologists discover Roman stronghold [09/15/2006]
• LOST ROMAN EMPEROR GETS CENTRE STAGE AT ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM [03/31/2005]
• Emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus) [10/08/2004]
• Amazon Warrior Women [08/04/2004]
• Three centuries before Christ's birth, people celebrated 25 December, archaeologists claim [12/28/2003]

[SunkenCiv]

Apparently the burial of the accumulated cash was standard practice before banks.

[delchiante]

:)