Roman coin hoard found in Augsburg Germany

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Tejas, Oct 20, 2021.

  1. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    The press reported today that a hoard of around 5500 Roman silver coins was found in the south German city of Augsburg. The hoard amounts to about 15 kilograms of silver.

    https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayer...ilbermuenzschatz-in-augsburg-entdeckt,SmCcXPD

    https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/spektakulaerer-roemerschatz-in-augsburg-gefunden,SmHSX8e

    The good thing is that the hoard was found by archaeologists, so the coins are recovered professionally and all find information is preserved.

    Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicum) is the second oldest town in Germany, dating back to around BC 15 when the Romans set up a first military camp.

    On another site I saw a picture of the hoard. My first impression is that the coins date to the 2nd century.
     
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  3. Treashunt

    Treashunt The Other Frank

    well, since I don't speak German, those links are useless.

    But, thanks for the story
     
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  4. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    There's a translation thing that pops up but the Video is still in German , Darn !! :(
     
  5. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    DeepL is your friend :)

    https://www.deepl.com/translator

    Once I see a story in English, I'll add a link.
     
  6. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

  7. romismatist

    romismatist Well-Known Member

    Sehr interessant, Vielen Dank!
     
  8. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

    Last edited: Oct 20, 2021
  9. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

    This is very interesting! Thank you for posting this! In the articles I found they mentioned that the coins were just laying there exposed. I'm really surprised they weren't in some kind of box or chest!

    15 kg is really a lot and weird someone would just dig a hole and dump them in. Maybe it was done in a rush. Certainly it wouldn't have been an average citizen. Do we have any sort of documented history of Augsburg back in 100-200 AD? I wonder if there were any major invasions or uprisings that would have caused someone in the aristocracy to panic hide their wealth.
    ------EDIT 1
    Just found this:
    "The value of the silver coins unearthed in Augsburg at that time corresponded to the eleven annual salaries of a legionnaire."
    Wow!
    ------EDIT 2
    Wikipedia had this to say:
    "In 120 AD Augsburg became the administrative capital of the Roman province Raetia. Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD"

    So based on one article they said one of the coins had Hadrian on it. So that would put the floor around 118 AD right? And I guess the Huns put a ceiling in the 5th century, though I'd be surprised if there were a bunch of 350 year old coins safely kept that long.
    ------EDIT 3
    I've sent an email to the (currently closed down) Roman museum there asking if they have more info.

    In the meantime I found the following here:
    https://www.alaturka.info/en/german...teresting-roman-finds-in-augusta-vindelicorum

    "In 260 AD, the Germanic Juthungen invaded Italy and Raetia and abducted thousands of Italians. On their return march, however, they were defeated in a two-day battle by the Roman governor and put to flight, as evidenced in 1992 by Augsburg Victory Altar. In 271 it came to repeated attacks of the Juthungen and other tribes for the siege of the city.

    After the division of the Roman province of Raetia in 294 Augsburg became capital of the province of Raetia Secunda, to which, after the end of Roman rule in 450, the Alemanni invaded."

    So perhaps it was these Juthungen jerks attacking in 260 AD (even though they lost) or 271 AD that caused this person to bury it!
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2021
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  10. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

  11. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    You are welcome. In my view DeepL is the best online translator worldwide.
     
  12. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    I read that the coins were found scattered over a larger area. However, a couple of bronze rings have been found as well that may have belonged to bags in which the coins were deposited in the ground.
     
    JJ Walker likes this.
  13. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

    Oh you mean that maybe whatever they were deposited in was maybe wood or something that would decompose and we're left with the metal bits?
     
  14. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    Yes, the bags were probably leather or cloth, which completely decomposed leaving only the rings that were used to close them.
     
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  15. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

    That makes sense. I have just written an email to the Roman museum in Augsburg to see if they have any sources or info as to what happened there during this 330 year period. I know the museum is closed for renovations for like 5 years already but maybe someone will reply.
     
  16. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    I can help the director of the museum with his mystery, a fingernail-sized coin of Hadrian with a "representation of a female figure that we have not yet determined." That would be a quinarius with Victory reverse.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2021
  17. Roerbakmix

    Roerbakmix Well-Known Member

    Shame there are no photo's, but only a 45+ minutes video of German talking! If I were to publish a hoard of coins, I would at least show some pictures :(

    Crowd-based identification would probably speed the description of this hoard (though 15.000 denari is a bit too much). Posting obv/rev of each coin with a database ID on this forum would be a fun project.
     
  18. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    That is possible. The Juthungi stela that was found in 1992 and is historically ver important. It reports that Semnones "sive" Iuthungi had attacked Italy and taken thousands of captives, which they were leading back to Germany. The formulation "Semnones sive Iuthungi", i.e. Semnones or Iuthungi does not mean that the writer of the steal was uncertain, but that Semnones could also be called Iuthungi. Their identities were beginning to morph together and soon they would only be called Alamanni.

    This is the text of the stela:

    "To the holy goddess Victory, on account of barbarians of the race of the Semnones or Iuthungi killed on the eighth and seventh days before the Kalends of May and put to flight by soldiers of the province of Raetia as well as Germani and locals, freeing many thousands of Italian captives; in fulfillment of his vow, Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, vir perfectissimus acting for the praeses with his army] happily and deservedly erected this altar, dedicated three days before the Ides of September when the Emperor, our lord [Postumus Au]gustus, and [Honoratianus were consuls]"

    I was in Como (northern Italy) for the weekend recently. The city is located on lake Como, which has a couple of islands. During the 3rd century Germanic raiders frequently crossed the Alps through the Tessin region of Switzerland, entering Italy to reach Milan or even Rome, and usually passing by Como. During this time the city of Como (Roman Comun) was abandoned and the citizens sought refuge on the islands of lake Como, clearly fearing that they would end up as slaves in the north.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2021
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  19. JJ Walker

    JJ Walker Member

    That's great background. Thank you! The circumstantial evidence is stacking up.
     
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