Cache of Thousands of Ancient Roman Silver Coins Found in River

[left-of-center2012]

A hoard of 5,600 silver coins from the Roman Empire dating back nearly 2,000 years has been found in Germany. The Augsburg Art Collections and Museum said in a statement the discovery was the largest such find in the southern German state of Bavaria. The silver coins minted in the denarii Roman currency were discovered in an old, gravel riverbed near the location of what was once an early military base.

The coins, which weigh 33 pounds in total, were discovered during excavation work after floods in the small town of Wertach flushed them out. The statement said that the oldest of the coins were minted under Emperor Nero (A.D. 54–68) and the most recently minted under Septimius Severus, shortly after A.D. 200.

"A soldier earned between 375 and 500 denarii in the early 3rd century. The treasure, therefore, is the equivalent of about 11 to 15 annual salaries," said Sebastian Gairhos, the head of city archeology in Augsburg.

Archeologists also discovered coins from the eras of Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius as well as coins from the era of Didius Iulianus, who was only emperor for nine weeks before being murdered in A.D. 193.

https://www.newsweek.com/cache-thousands-ancient-roman-silver-coins-found-river-1653112

[3Hotdogs]

1. Being a Roman officer,

how many coins did Biggus Dickus earn per year?

[left-of-center2012]

2. I have no idea what that means

[3Hotdogs]

3. Biggus Dickus --- reference to dialog in Monty Python's

"Life of Brian."


IF you ain't seen it, stop whatever you are doing....

[left-of-center2012]

6. No thanks

[packman]

9. Well. you know I just HAD to post it

[3auld6phart]

12. Thanks

We all need a good start for the day. Great comedy.

[3Hotdogs]

18. Fond memories of when I wore a younger man's clothes

[modrepub]

4. Life of Brian

Pilate: I have a vewy gweat fwiend in Wome called 'Biggus Dickus'.

I suspect the Cache was the garrison's payroll that was somehow thrown or dropped into the river. Way too much money for one soldier to have.

[machoneman]

7. More likely, a Germanic tribe fought and overran a Roman military outpost and killed...

all who would know of the post's hiding place for soldier pay.

[certainot]

10. "chief, i don't think the guys we've been torturing know where it is...."

[modrepub]

13. Always Fun To Speculate

After all we'll probably never know how the coins were deposited where they were found.

Frontier garrisons were rarely over run. The were basically placed there to keep an eye on things and project Rome's power and eventually became trading posts and gateways between Roman and barbarian culture.

Within a few centuries, most of Rome's military had adopted German forms of dress; trousers, large brooches, sword belt and scabbard. German tribes that had developed friendly relations with the Romans were tapped for troops when needed (foederati). By the 4th and 5th centuries Germans often headed large contingents of Roman troops (magister militum or patricius). Not that the cultural exchanges were one way, but the 5th century most German nobles were nominally christians, though they practiced a non-Catholic version which would create further divisions.

I'd liken this situation to our southern border with Mexico. Over time the US has developed an appreciation for meso-American cultural items (food for instance) and those south of the border seemed to have developed western consumption practices.

[Fla Dem]

8. According to the article........

"A soldier earned between 375 and 500 denarii in the early 3rd century. The treasure, therefore, is the equivalent of about 11 to 15 annual salaries," said Sebastian Gairhos, the head of city archeology in Augsburg.

[Blues Heron]

5. imagine if we still had coins from the 1870's in circulation

about the same time span as 55 to 200 AD

[AllaN01Bear]

11. utube video of the find .

[BobTheSubgenius]

14. A bit annoying that there was not even an approximate modern value placed on them.

[Marthe48]

15. AD 9 Germans ambushed Roman troops and slaughtered them

I saw a documentary last spring. Reading about the coins being found reminded me of the documentary.

[left-of-center2012]

16. "I noticed the coins were dated to about the same time ... AD 9"

From the OP:
"the most recently minted under Septimius Severus, shortly after A.D. 200" -- two centuries later.

[Marthe48]

17. Sorry, I'll fix

I read the post this am and just got back to it without rereading.