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Monday, September 10, 2018
Hundreds of ancient gold coins were found last week in the basement of an old theater in northern Italy. Archaeologists have discovered the jackpot in Como, on the border with Switzerland.
The pieces date back to the end of the Roman era in the fourth or fifth century and poured into a two-handle soapstone pot called amphora, buried in the earth.
Maria Grazia Facchinetti, an expert in rare pieces, believes that "whoever placed the pot at this place buried it in such a way that he could recover it". "They were stacked in rolls similar to the ones we see today at the bank.
At a press conference, she stated that the coins had engravings of the emperors Honorius, Valentinian III, Leo I, Antonio and Libio Severo, and that they "did not exceed 474 AD" .
"All this makes us think that the owner is not a private subject, but rather a bank or a public deposit," Facchinetti said.
The Times of London reports that Luca Rinaldi, the local archaeological superintendent, said the pieces were "priceless". "We are talking about an exceptional discovery," he said.
Archaeologists were digging in the basement of the historic Cressoni Theater, which closed in 1997. The Ministry of Culture stated that the excavations were being conducted as part of the "restructuring" of the theater and that Newsweek was reporting that the site was being transformed. in apartments.
According to CNN, archaeologists have also discovered a gold bar inside a pot on the same site. The theater is not far from the Novum Comum forum area, according to CNN, where several other Roman artifacts have been discovered.
"We do not yet know in detail the historical and cultural significance of the discovery," said the Minister of Culture, Alberto Bonisoli, in a press release. "But this area is proving to be a real treasure for our archeology."
Bonisoli said the pieces are a "discovery that fills me with pride". They are among several important Roman artefacts discovered in recent years.
In 2016, archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old Roman gold coin in Jerusalem that featured the face of Nero, the Roman emperor. Ancient Roman coins have also been discovered in the ruins of a castle in Japan.
According to the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities, the coins of Como were discovered last week and transferred to a restoration laboratory in Milan, where they will be further examined by archaeologists.
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