More than 200 coins from the early 1300s have been discovered by chance in a forest near Zürich. They provide clues as to how money networks around Switzerland worked during the Middle Ages.
An employee of canton Zurich’s archaeological department recently stumbled upon a pile of Swiss coins in a forest while investigating an interesting topographical area for potential research. Originating from the period between 1295 and 1320, they were found “completely by accident,” according to the archaeologist, Werner Wild from the cantonal office.
“This find is certainly significant for the canton,” Wild told Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and continued: “There was a similar discovery made near Winterthur in 1930, and we can combine the information from both to think about how money circulated in the area during the Middle Ages.”
Wild says there are many theories as to how the money got there. It could have been buried there on purpose to hide it from thieves who were prevalent along the main roads during the Middle Ages; or the coins may simply have been lost. Researchers believe it could have been kept in a cloth or leather pouch that has since disintegrated and that an animal may have found and scattered the coins at some point.
The coins were quite valuable at the time, amounting to two months’ income for a preacher in the area, or the sum of money needed to buy 25 sheep.
The most interesting part, though, is that only five of the Swiss coins actually stem from Zürich. Most originated in the areas near Basel and Zofingen in Switzerland. Others came from as far away as Freiburg im Breisgau in Southern Germany. At the time, it was normal for money from all of those regions to be in circulation in Switzerland. All in all 190 coins were found, which can be dated between 1290 -1320.
The collection will be transferred to the Winterthur Coin Collection for further analysis and comparison with earlier finds.
SOURCE:
Mittelalterliche Münzen bei Nürensdorf