Archeologists Discover 175 Roman Coins in Italy

Archeologists in Livorno, Italy discovered 175 silver Roman denarius coins, nearly all of which were in good condition.

A member of the Livorno Paleontological Archeological Group discovered the Roman treasure hoard while hiking in a cleared area of Tuscan forest north of Livorno.

Dr. Lorella Alderighi has spent more than a year measuring, weighing, and documenting the coins.

“This treasure is about a person’s life, the savings of a soldier’s life and his hopes for building his farm. However, it also tells a sad story: (T)he owner of the coins died before he could make his dreams come true using his savings. The coins tell his story,” Alderighi said in an email to CNN.

The Roman coins will be displayed at the Museum of Natural History of the Mediterranean in Livorno from May 5 to July 2.

CNN continued:

It’s impossible to know exactly who buried the coins, Alderighi said, but the coins would most likely have been the treasure of a former soldier who served during Rome’s Social War from 91 to 88 BC and during the civil war between Sulla and the Marians from 83 to 82 BC.

The owner of the hoard buried it in a terra-cotta pot, which served as a sort of piggy bank. The earliest coins in the stash dated to 157 or 156 BC, and the latest up to 83 or 82 BC, according to the archaeological group’s release.

“It is one of the very few hoards of ancient coins found intact and provides a lot of numismatic, historical and social information,” Alderighi remarked.