In October 2023, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden unveiled a hoard of ancient coins unearthed in Bunnik, Netherlands.
On a wet October day, former policeman Gert-Jan Messelaar and Reinier Koelink, ventured into a field in Bunnik where they discovered gold and silver coins from the beginning of the Common Era. After finding the coins, Messelaar and Koelink reported the discovery to the Archaeology Reporting Center of Landscape Heritage Utrecht, as reported by NRC Handelsblad.
Archaeologist Anton Cruysheer from Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht identified and studied the coins at the Archaeology Reporting Center. The find generated excitement far beyond national borders due to contact with his English colleagues, according to NOS. “It shows that from the Netherlands the crossing was made, but that people also returned with British gold coins—presumably as war booty,” said Cruysheer, according to Algemeen Dagblad.
To learn more about the location where the coins were found, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, together with the two finders, conducted an excavation during which more coins were discovered. In total, 404 gold and silver coins from the beginning of the Common Era were found during the excavation, according to NOS.
The collection includes 360 Roman coins and 44 British coins. “A unique combination of Roman and British coins,” described the National Museum of Antiquities, according to NRC Handelsblad. The Roman coins consist of 288 silver denarii dating from 200 BCE to 47 CE and 72 gold aurei from the first century CE, including examples such as coins of Julius Caesar and a coin of Juba, the king of Numidia, as per VRT NWS.
The British coins bear the abbreviated name of King Cunobelinus in Latin letters, with the letters “Cuno” referring to the Celtic king. “Actually, those English coins are the first tangible evidence of habitation by indigenous peoples in the then Britannia,” said Cruysheer, according to Algemeen Dagblad.
Curator Jasper de Bruin of the Netherlands in Roman times at the National Museum of Antiquities stated, that “the coin find can be linked to the Roman invasion of Great Britain in 43 CE,” as reported by NRC Handelsblad. “Because of the combination with the British coins, we assume that the coin hoard was pay and loot of a soldier involved in the invasion and conquest of Britain between 43 and 47 CE,” he added.
The exact location of the find remains secret for now, at the request of the landowner, according to NRC Handelsblad. The field was probably too wet for habitation or agriculture during Roman times, as reported by Algemeen Dagblad. It is unclear why the coins were hidden in or after the year 47 in the municipality of Bunnik, but there are two theories: they were either intentionally buried to be retrieved later or offered to the gods in thanks for a safe return or successful campaign, suggested VRT NWS.
“The value of all the coins together was equivalent to eleven years’ salary of a soldier,” noted Cruysheer, according to NRC Handelsblad. The coins were purchased by the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and are now on display in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in the department the Netherlands in Roman Times.
“Now we have for the first time evidence that the return, at least for some, laden with loot and gifts from the emperor, also happened via the Netherlands,” said de Bruin.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
