Ancient coin hoard
seatedlib3991
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I just read a story about a Roman coin hoard found in Italy. I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that they said the coins covered a period of 239 years. So this would be like me having coins from 1784 in my piggy bank? Any experts that can explain that? sorry but I am lost outside of Seated Coins. James
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The Roman Empire (although not always an Empire) existed for 1000 years. In that context, 239 years is like you having 60 year old U.S. coins in your piggy bank.
Silver, gold and copper coins had intrinsic value. There was no reason to scrap them when a new Emperor came into power. There were also no coin collectors to pull them out of circulation. Melting them down and reissuing them was just more trouble than it was worth.
no banks for the family fortune.......
this may represent many generations of a family saving.
Link, please?
I am sorry. I don't know how to do that. it is a story I read on yahoo. James
OK, where was it found, and when? I can do a search.
People hoard for various reasons. My Mother was a child of the Great Depression, and her family had several rough years when Grandpa could not find work.
When the US discontinued silver in the mid-1960's Ma started hoarding silver coins. Eventually they were gone from circulation, but she just kept her hoard in case things got bad again someday. She told me where it was hidden just in case something happened to her, and it sat there for 50 years until we finally had to put her into a nursing home and we put everything into a Safety Deposit Box.
After she passed a few years ago we got everything out and I, as the family numismatist, went through it. All common silver from the 1920's up to 1964, so some of it 90 years old and nothing special. I asked my siblings if anybody wanted to buy it out of the estate and nobody did, so I sold it and split the money.
With no Whitman "Denarius Boards" back then to encourage the older stuff from being pulled out of circulation, I am not surprised that 200 year old coins could be found in a hoard.
There were no banks in the ancient world, so people buried their coins underground usually in terracotta pots. For obvious reasons, they didn't tell others where their pot of coins was buried and when they died, the secret of their Location died with them. Many of these coins have been found during construction projects especially trenching for the burial of underground utilities. Also, it's interesting to note that many ancient coin hoards were discovered during WWI because of all the trenches dug for fortifications during the era of "trench warfare".
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
The coins found were from the Roman Republic, not from the Empire. They continued to circulate as money long after they were minted because few coin collectors existed in those times.
My Grandfather was playing near a rock pile in Italy (before coming to the US) When he noticed some yellow rocks. They were Roman Gold Coins.
Not knowing anything about them, he ran to the local store and bought candy with them.
When he told his father about the coins, he rushed over to the store to get them back.
Of course, the store owner denied having them, and they were never recovered.
The coins probably would have paid for the entire family's immigration to America, with some left over for sure.
Pete
Buried ‘treasure’ of 2,000-year-old Roman coins found in Italian forest
https://globalnews.ca/news/9655283/roman-coins-buried-treasure-livorno-italy/
Looks like 175 denarii of BC vintage in this hoard.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
That can't be the one the OP is referring to, can it? Or did he do the math wrong?
the one on yahoo says someone buried treasure 2000 years ago and never came back. hiker find.
it is also on a newsfeed called microsoft edge
That's where all the hoards come from. It was common for people to simply bury their savings in clay pots.
As far as the date spread, these were simply utilitarian pieces of metal. Take a look at the results of Colonial digs.
There are several finds such as this each year.... It was common for people to bury coins for safekeeping before banks etc.. This is the dream that drives treasure hunters and metal detectorists. Cheers, RickO
This is indeed the hoard apparently...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/hiker-stumbles-across-hoard-of-2-000-year-old-silver-coins-in-italy/ar-AA1atYIR
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
That's only a 74 year spread. [Not that even a 200 year spread is unheard of]