Largest ever Roman silver hoard in Germany found in Augsburg

Largest ever Roman silver hoard in Germany found in Augsburg

The discovery of a Roman silver treasure weighing more than 15 kilograms in Augsburg is, according to experts, one of the most important finds of this type in Germany.

Archaeologists had unearthed around 5500 silver coins on the site of a former factory in the past few months. The oldest of the coins date from the time of the Roman emperor Nero, so they are more than 1950 years old.

So far there have been fewer than ten comparable discoveries in Germany, said Augsburg city archaeologist Sebastian Gairhos on Wednesday.

In Bavaria, it is the largest Roman silver treasure so far. The amount of coins in silver, in particular, makes the find important for archaeologists, said Professor Stefan Krmnicek from the University of Tübingen.

There, the coins are to be restored and scientifically documented over the next two to three years.

Gairhos explained that the Romans had repeatedly buried large amounts of money. In the northern Roman provinces, for this reason, coin collections were discovered more frequently, but mostly only comprised a few hundred coins.

“It is very seldom more than 1000, and then there are no silver coins,” said the city archaeologist.

The value of the silver coins unearthed in Augsburg at that time corresponded to the eleven annual salaries of a legionnaire.

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The most important Roman coin treasure in Germany was discovered in 1993 in the Roman city of Trier.

During construction work at that time, 2,600 gold coins weighing 18.5 kilos came to light. The Trier gold treasure is much more valuable, said Gairhos. For the Romans, a gold coin was worth 25 silver coins.