This is about 11 years‘ wages for a Roman Soldier approx 2000 years ago.

Jan 27, 2025 4:46 PM

CALAMOSCOPYJANE

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Found only 30cm below soil surface. 72 aurei and 288 denarii found in NL. Coins found range from 200BC to AD47. Full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/27/hoard-of-coins-dating-from-roman-conquest-of-britain-found-near-utrecht

ancient_history

roman_coins

numismatism

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nederland

“You don’t think I’d go into combat with a bunch of loose change in my pocket?”

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I ALWAYS wonder at the series of events that lead to treasure staying hidden. The willpower or means to accumulate the hoard in the first place. The secret that needs to be kept or never shared. The hiding place that has to be found, which is either well chosen or luckily overlooked. And then the owner of the treasure has to die in some circumstance that leaves no record.

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

The Utrecht area often has very interesting Roman archaeology finds. Did my "big school project" on a ship that was found buried slightly to the west of it, and there are other traces still visible here. Lovely if you're into that stuff.

1 year ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

I'll give them tree-fiddy for them

1 year ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 6

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

Can you run Crysis on them?

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

No but it does do Ryse: Son of Rome

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

What is their worth now as a collector's item or whatever you might call it?

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

'Best I can do is $3.50...'

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

v

1 year ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 1

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Those stayed in circulation an awful long time before being buried.

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

When I was young (the 1960s) the old pre-decimal coinage was still in circulation. The oldest coin I ever got in change was George III, 1815

1 year ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

this is wild. like… i live in berlin. i've seen three currencies in my lifetime, and i'm not *that* old yet.

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Must be worth at least 10 quid.

1 year ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

Way more in caps.

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

how diluted is the denarius?

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 2

You mean chipped?

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

No. Diluted. Roman silver coins gradually lost their silver content. It was the ancient form of currency devaluation. We experience the same thing today as a loss of purchasing power by money printing from central banks.

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 3

Oh you mean economic dilution. There was also the issue of people gradually shaving tiny amounts off of the coins themselves.

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Some poor Roman soldier had to return home to his wife and explain why he doesn't have the last 11 years worth of wages. Probably ended up back in the cold and wet in England, defending the wall against the Scots.

1 year ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

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1 year ago (deleted Jan 28, 2025 1:28 PM) | Likes 0 Dislikes 0

Mature content. NSFW. All hail the moderators.

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 1

I got the exact same response for another comment recently. Imgur mods are being a little OTT right now.

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

It's hard to track down those Roaming coins.

1 year ago | Likes 63 Dislikes 0

I thought they were from the Rou-Ming Dynasty of China?

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

1 year ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Who shined them up?

1 year ago | Likes 27 Dislikes 0

The person who took the stock photo probably

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 1

File this with "how to get out of quicksand" and "how to survive piranhas" in "things that seem like they'll be useful but never will", but if you find ancient valuable coins, be gentle with them and do not try to shine them up or clean them in any way or you could halve their value.

1 year ago | Likes 11 Dislikes 0

Halve their value if you're lucky. Here's a story of a guy who paid $102K for a coin, could have been worth $250K or more today, but he polished it and dropped its value to maybe $10K. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk0F_sQY-kM

1 year ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I’m reasonably sure that’s not the hoard in question

1 year ago | Likes 22 Dislikes 1

I’m thinking you’re likely correct. Going to check it out after work.

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

https://www.utrechtaltijd.nl/verhalen/the-bunnik-hoard-2023/ Those are the coins found

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Dank je wel. Ik hou van Nederland.

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

https://www.utrechtaltijd.nl/verhalen/the-bunnik-hoard-2023/ It is the real hoard.

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Echt gaaf, hoor!

1 year ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

It actually is.

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Well I’ll be damned

1 year ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

One aureus featured King Juba of Numidia / modern day Algeria. It's wild to think how it got there. If these were indeed spoils of war from the conquest of Britain, some British celt must have been in the possession of a coin minted in North Africa.

1 year ago | Likes 36 Dislikes 1

That’s really cool, thx for commenting.

1 year ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Not that wild, Rome specifically stationed troops from far away in provinces to minimize a connection between them and the population they controlled. Britain specifically used a lot of Levantine soldiers, especially Syrians.

1 year ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

Trade was already quite prolific in the pre-Roman era, so very possible.

1 year ago | Likes 29 Dislikes 0

They found Roman coins in Japan.

1 year ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

Is it so wild? In the Bronze Age, everyone needed tin which Britain had in abundance and traded far and wide.

1 year ago | Likes 19 Dislikes 0

Yep, and amber from the Baltic got as far as Mesopotamia.

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

It was wild to me at least because I've never given this much thought. I still get excited when I get a Euro coin as change that was minted in Spain or Greece. The only non-EU currency in my possession are a few British coins. Goes to show that I haven't traveled very far.

1 year ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Fair enough, the Euro coins are cool. I just read „The Celts“ by Nora Chadwick and she talks about how the La Tène artists were informed by Greek and Roman designs and Irish monks by what was going on in Syrian or Coptic monasteries and I’m ready to believe anything rn

1 year ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

People in ancient times got around far more than most people would think.

1 year ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0