Hiker finds rare buried treasure of nearly 200 ancient Roman coins

Archaeologists in Italy made a beautiful discovery in November 2021 and how they’re trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle.

When a member of the Livorno Paleontological Archaeological Group went hiking in a Tuscan Forest just northeast of Livorno, they made an amazing - unearthing almost 200 coins.

But this wasn’t your standard loose change, but something far more precious.

When taking a closer look and excavating the area, researchers found that what had been glimmering in the dirt was actually 175 silver Roman denarii coins.

Not only did they find historic currency, but what was shocking was that nearly all were in good condition, which made this one of the few times ancient coins were found intact.

According to the group, they were curious to know about the origins of the treasure, who it belonged to and if it had been hidden from anyone.

This led the group and the archaeologist official for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno, Dr. Lorella Alderighi, to spend over a year inspecting the coins to find out more.

Gruppo Archeologico Paleontologico Livornese / Facebook

According to a news release on its Facebook page, the process included measuring, weighing, and documenting the coins and now that’s done, they think they have found answers.

Through an email exchange with CNN, Alderighi said: “This treasure is about a person’s life, the savings of a soldier’s life and his hopes for building his farm.

“However, it also tells a sad story: the owner of the coins died before he could make his dreams come true using his savings. The coins tell his story.”

The coins would most likely have been the treasure of a former soldier during Rome’s Social War from 91 to 88 BC and perhaps during the civil war between Sulla and the Marians from 83 to 82 BC.

Gruppo Archeologico Paleontologico Livornese / Facebook

The owner of the collection buried it in a terracotta pot in a makeshift piggy bank and the timestamps on each coin had different ranges.

Having been preserved well when buried, only two coins are fractured but can still be reassembled.

Carrying a lot of information just through the study of the coins, Alderighi said: “It is one of the very few hoards of ancient coins found intact and provides a lot of numismatic, historical and social information.”

The earliest coins found within the stash dated to 157 or 156 BC, and the latest coin was dated up to 83 or 82 BC, according to the archaeological group’s release.

With how much was found, 175 denarii are estimated to have been a soldier’s salary for around a year and a half, according to Alderighi.

However, now it would be worth somewhere between €20,000 to €25,000.

Soon, the collection of coins will be available to see on display in an exhibition at the Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean in Livorno from May 5 to July 2.