40,000 Roman-era coins discovered in French village

Archaeologists More than 40,000 Roman-era specimens recently discovered coins during excavations in a French village. A treasure trove of ancient coins was found in three ceramic vessels buried between 1700 and 1800 years ago.

A team from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) carried out the excavations. village of Cenon in northeastern Franceapproximately 60 miles from the Luxembourg border. Senon was one of the main cities of the Mediomatrix tribe. This Celtic tribe lived in and around northern France during the Gallic Warswhen Julius Caesar conquered parts of modern France, Belgium and Switzerland between 57 and 50 BC.

The coins were buried in three large ceramic coin jars called amphorae. INRAP believes that thousands of coins discovered in France date from the last quarter of the 3rd century to the first decade of the 4th century AD, but exact dates are still unknown.

Told by INRAP numismatist Vincent Genevieve Living Science that the first hoard contained approximately 83 pounds of coins, or between 23,000 and 24,000 coins. The second jar and its contents weighed about 110 pounds (potentially 18,000 to 19,000 coins), while the third jar contained only three coins.

One of the coin deposits currently being excavated. Image: © Lino Mocci/INRAP.

“Contrary to what one might initially think, it is not certain that these were 'treasures' hidden during a period of instability,” INRAP wrote in a translated statement.

Instead, these jars may be a snapshot of “complex monetary management”, a financial system that was potentially designed for medium- to long-term savings or within a household so that deposits and withdrawals could be made at different times.

“In two cases, the presence of several coins found on the outside of the vessel clearly indicates that they were placed there after the vessel was buried, before the pit was filled with sediment,” INRAP writes.

Two of them were found in what was supposed to be a living room, indicating that their owner could have easily accessed them.

Around the beginning of the fourth century, a great fire destroyed the original settlement. The area was restored before the second fire. Despite both fires, the older age of the INRAP coins suggests that a clustered settlement already existed before the Roman conquest of the area.

“All hypotheses will be tested, but it is possible that there is a connection between these three modern coin hoards – all of which were buried, according to our current information, between 280 and 310 AD. [CE]- and the famous military occupation of Senone, as evidenced by a fortification from the same period located just 150 meters away. [492 feet] from the excavated area,” INRAP said.