Explorers in Poland discovered rare ancient Roman coins with the help of metal detectors, the team announced Friday.
The “Group of Explorers” with the Tarnogrod Regional Society began searching in the spring of 2024 around the town of Księżpol, Poland, according to a Facebook post by the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments (LVCM) translated into English.
The group, directed by Janusz Szabat and Piotr Magoch, found “a very large number of metal archaeological monuments,” including numerous silver coins known as ancient Roman denars across “several fields,” the LVCM wrote. The area they searched in is smaller than one fifth of a square mile, CBS News reported.
Three of the coins discovered were imprinted with the face of Antoninus Pius, a Roman emperor, and were minted between the years 138 and 161, officials said. Another coin printed with the emperor’s wife, Faustina the Younger, minted in 141, was among their discoveries. A “triumphal coin” with Pius printed on it was also discovered as well as a denar depicting Marcus Aurelius from 174.
Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius are frequently referred to as the final two of the Five Good Emperors and reigned from 138-161 A.D. and 161-180 A.D. respectively, according to Britannica. Marcus Aurelius famously wrote his Meditations while Emperor of the Roman Empire. (RELATED: Archeologists Discover Underwater Roman Villa Remains)
“The number of these findings is surprising,” the post stated.
In addition to real coins, a few counterfeit dinar coins created by Gothic peoples were also found, officials said.
A piece of a silver denar depicting the Empress Herennia Cupressina Etruscilla, wife of the Roman Emperor Decius, was also discovered, according to the post. The denar is considered “a fairly rare coin, because it is twice the size of a typical denar.”
Decius became Roman Emperor in 249 A.D. during the Crisis of the Third Century, according to The Collector. He became infamous in later years for persecuting Christians. Decius became the first Roman Emperor killed by a foreign adversary when he was struck down fighting the Goths at the Battle of Abritus.
In addition to the coins, the explorers discovered “several small silicon tools,” as well as pieces of pottery, the LVCM wrote. Their ages are difficult to confirm. Some of the pottery pieces are thought by Dr. Barbara Niezabitowska-Wisniewska of the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University’s Institute of Archaeology to be from the Roman period. The remaining pieces are believed to be from the early Middle Ages, the Old Polish period and even some from modern times.
“The discovered monuments will soon be handed over to the Museum in Belgrade,” the Facebook post concluded.
