© Courtesy of Pamukkale UniversityArchaeologists uncovered the coins in 2019 but only examined them recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Archaeologists in the ancient Turkish city of
Aizanoi have discovered a cache of 651 Roman coins in a vessel buried near a stream, reports Muharrem Cin for the state-run
Anadolu Agency.
"The jug was aimed to be kept [in place] by three terracotta plates covering it," lead archaeologist Elif รzer of Pamukkale University tells the
Hurriyet Daily News, adding that that the coins were likely buried during Emperor Augustus' reign (27 B.C. โ 14 A.D.).
Per a
statement, the scholars concluded that 439 of the coins were
denarii, a type of silver coin first introduced in the third century B.C., while 212 were
cistophori, or silver coins from Pergamum, an ancient Greek city in what is now Turkey. Though the researchers discovered the coins in 2019, they weren't able to examine them until recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
© Aizanoi Excavation ArchiveThe coins are about 2,100 years old.
In the statement, as translated by
CNN's Jack Guy, รzer describes the coins, which were minted in Southern Italy, as not only a "very special and unique collection," but "the most special silver coin find of recent times."
Dated to between 75 and 4 B.C., the coins bear the images of Roman emperors and politicians, including Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Mark Antony, writes
Live Science's Laura Geggel. When studying the artifacts, researchers found that many of the coins were well-preserved, with their engravings still legible.
© Courtesy of Pamukkale UniversityApproximately 439 of the coins were denarii, while 212 were cistophori.
รzer theorizes that the denarii and cistophori were part of a coin album โ a compilation of money portraying rulers from the late
Roman Republic โ that belonged to an elite Roman soldier. Some of the coins were more valuable than others.
"A high-ranking soldier [likely] came to Aizanoi ... and he must have buried these coins here for a reason we do not know yet," รzer tells
Live Science.
© Aizanoi Excavation ArchiveThe coins featured Roman emperors on one side.
According to รzer, each coin "tells a different story" drawn from mythology and popular lore. One token, for instance, portrays the Trojan hero Aeneas carrying his father, Anchises, on his back โ a reference to a well-known scene from Virgil's
Aeneid, notes
Live Science.As Mark Cartwright wrote for
Ancient History Encyclopedia in 2018, denarii were the Romans' most popular coins between 211 B.C. and the third century A.D. Cistophori were rarer than denarii, as they were only in circulation around Asia Minor, according to the
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.
The
Daily Sabah reports that the team uncovered the coins as part of a broader restoration
effort that began in 2011. Dubbed the
Aizanoi Penkalas Project, the campaign seeks to offer riverboat tours that enable visitors to mirror the ancient Romans' maritime journeys while exploring Aizanoi's ancient ruins. Other artifacts discovered at the site include 1,000 Roman stones and sculptures and traces of a settlement dated to 3000 B.C., noted the
Daily Sabah in a separate 2020 article.
According to the Anadolu Agency, รzer and her colleagues plan to soon publish their findings in a scientific journal. For now, the coin collection will remain on display at the
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Found it! Henry IV, spoken by Falstaff, but he said 'hook nosed'.
R.C.