Live Science recently published the discovery of 5,500 Roman denarii found in the city of Augusta Vindelicum, the capital of the Roman province of Raetia. Denarii of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, & Trajan are visible from the photo . Massive hoard of Roman-era silver coins unearthed in Germany (msn.com)
Interesting article, thanks for sharing! It might just be me, but I wish articles like that would show pictures of the coins from above rather than at an angle, where you can't really see any details on the coins
Regarding these 3rd century A.D.E. roman coins, I was wondering if the purity of silver is known ? The photo looks like the coins are covered in verdigris. J.T..
I browsed the internet for better photos of the hoard without success . The coins are covered with dirt & who knows what else . To answer J.T Parker's question, denarii of Hadrian are about 89% pure silver, but Antoninus Pius dropped the purity to about 83%.
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/panorama/silberschatz-augsburg-muenzen-100.html#xtor=CS5-62 https://www.welt.de/geschichte/arti...rg-5500-Silbermuenzen-aus-der-Roemerzeit.html
Yes, I think that this is the same hoard which was found by German archaeologists in an industrial zone a week or two ago. Apparently the hoard was scattered on a (now dry) riverbed.
For those of you who are familiar with the area, is the coin hoard near the battle site between the Romans and the Raeti recently discovered by an amateur archaeologist? https://www.livescience.com/amp/metal-detectorist-finds-dagger-ancient-roman-battle
Thank you for bringing up this great discovery. I’m surprised about the lack of numismatic insight given by these initial reports. “Archaeologists have found a hoard of Roman-era silver coins buried by the river in the Bavarian city of Augsburg in Germany. In total, it weighs 33 pounds (15 kilograms) and could be the largest single ancient Roman silver hoard ever found in Bavaria. The team was digging at a planned housing site in the Oberhausen district, the oldest part of Augsburg, before builders began the construction work when they found the stash of Roman silver dating to 1st to early 3rd century A.D.” “The coins belong to a wide period from the reign of Emperor Nero in the mid-first century AD to that of Septimius Severus shortly after AD 200. This period covers the reigns of emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Interestingly, the hoard also includes coins from the reign of Emperor Didius Julianus, who was on the throne for only 90 days (March-June 193 AD) after buying it from the Praetorian guard, which had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax. Since he ruled for such a short period, coins issued in his reign are quite rare.” I don’t speak German, but I think this video is related to the find: I liked these articles, also: https://www.sciencetimes.com/amp/ar...roman-era-silver-coins-found-buried-river.htm https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/silver-hoard-0016082 Thanks, again, to everyone.
The coins ranged from Nero to Septimius Severus according to one of the texts, but an accompanying photo shows many later coins: Julia Soaemias, Julia Maesa, Severus Alexander, Maximinus Thrax, Gordian III. Apparently the coins in the photo are not in fact from the recently discovered hoard.
