Roman silver coins found in Romania in Romania – History Blog

A metal detector found a hoard of 1,469 Roman silver denarii near the village of Letţa Veche in southern Romania, close to the border with Bulgaria. The coins date back to the era of imperialism from the mid-1st century to the mid-2nd century AD, making up one of the largest ancient coins ever in Romania.

Bebe Mangeac made a discovery in the fields while walking with his trusted metal detector, April 19 (Saturday before Easter). His detector gave him a strong alarm, and when he was below the surface, the first silver coin appeared. What follows is. And more. He kept digging, pulling those who were pulled out. There were other detectors around him who did not want to leave any coins behind from hoarding to separate from the bulk.

According to Romanian law, archaeological discoveries must be reported to the authorities within 72 hours. Mangeac will be close to it due to the Easter holiday. He spent Sunday and Monday shooting coins and then hoarded the entire coins to Letţa Veche Town Hall. Police supervised the transfer on site and obtained the exact coordinates of the search site to protect it before it was declared a formal archaeological site and conducted a thorough and professional excavation.

These coins are now fully inventoryed. The earliest coins date back to 54 AD, the reign of Nile. The recent reign of Marcus Aurelius dates back to 161 AD. They are all silvery Daniels (Silver denarii) and are worn seriously, so they will surely see many years of circulation before collecting them. Since the range of dates is so large and the coins are all silver, this could be a collection accumulated over time, or even someone’s lifesaving savings.

In addition to Denarii, Mangeac discovered fragments of ceramic containers. The pottery is thick and curved, perhaps from a small amphibian. It is not clear whether all coins were initially stored in the ship, but it may even be broken before burial to ensure the deposit is secure.

The findings will now be transferred to the County Culture Bureau, which will be evaluated before it is allocated to the Teohari Antonescu County Museum in Gilgou. The coins will be evaluated and recorded in detail – clean, determine, date, evaluate, analyze the metal content. The local museum is already short on the current collection space, so cramming into another 1,500 coins will be challenging, especially since hoarding is such a sensational discovery that it will attract experts from other institutions, including the Romanian National History Museum.

Once the hoard value is estimated, the finder will be legally entitled to a reward of 45% of the assessed value, which is certainly great in this case.