Livorno: Coins from Roman times found – there is a tragic story behind them

Italy
Wanderer finds coins from Roman times – there is probably a tragic story behind it

By chance, a hiker in Italy came across 200 ancient silver coins. They were worth a small fortune at the time – but the former owner was apparently no longer able to pick them up again.

The area around the Italian city of Livorno, idyllically situated in Tuscany, is ideal for hiking tours. A hiker made an unusual find in November 2021: he happened to spot a few shiny silver coins in a forest. There was more behind it. A whole treasure consisting of 175 pieces of silver was buried there.

Experts analyzed the find for more than a year and have now published their findings. Accordingly, the coins are originals from Roman times, which are said to have lain in hiding for around 2000 years. Apparently someone buried the money there to keep it safe – and then never came back.

Fund in Livorno: Speculations about the owner of the coins

However, many questions remain unanswered, especially about the former owner of the coins. Today, two thousand years later, we can only speculate about this. For example, it may have been a soldier who fought in the area in the War of the Allies (91 to 88 BC) and General Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix’s war against the Marians (82 BC), writes the local group for Paleontology and Archeology in a Communication. Other experts suspect that a merchant could have buried the money.

“The coins were definitely hidden,” archaeologist Lorella Alderighi, who analyzed the find, told Live Science. “They represented a treasure or a piggy bank. Back then, the easiest way to hide valuables was to bury them – away from houses where nobody could find them.” Alderighi supports the thesis that there is a tragic story behind it: A soldier probably hid the coins to buy a field with them, but then never returned from a war.

Worth a year and a half salary

The scientists were nevertheless able to gain some insights from the discovery. The oldest coins found date back to 157 BC. 82 B.C. dated. The coins were denarii, i.e. silver coins weighing around four and a half grams. At that time, the 175 denarii corresponded to about a year and a half’s salary for a soldier or in today’s currency 20,000 to 25,000 euros – for the person who buried the treasure 2000 years ago and never retrieved it, a heavy loss. The coins are now on display in a museum in Livorno.

Sources: Gruppo Archeologico Paleontologico Livornese / “Live Science” / CNN