19 amphorae filled with over 600 kg of Roman Coins from Late Antiquity were recently found at Tomares near Sevilla in Spain
As yet no one knows the full extent of the treasure trove, which was recently discovered in Tomares near Sevilla. With 19 amphorae holding perhaps 600 kg. coins, the cleaning, registering and documenting will take years to carry out. As yet, no precise dating can thus be provided.The Roman containers were found last week by construction workers opening ditches inside Zaudín Park, said sources familiar with the investigation.
The amphorae, some of which were broken and others whole, are not of the type commonly used to transport grain or wine. These smaller containers were all inside a storage space that had been sealed and covered with broken items.
The coins depict an emperor on one side and various Roman allegories on the back, including abundance. Researchers insisted that never before had so many homogeneous coins been found together. So far the emperors have been identified as Maximian or Constantine, but the archaeologists do not rule out that the hoard have to be dated to the reign of Diocletian. Some of the amphorae have not even yet been opened. So-far the find has yielded literally tens of thousand of bronze coins, but some silver-plated have also been discovered. The coins appear to be new and seem not to have been in circulation.
A preliminary hypothesis is that the money was meant to pay imperial taxes or army levies.
According to the leader of the team, further excavations will be carried out on the construction site in order to secure the context of the find. The whole region around the Guadalquivir is known as a very rich region in terms of Roman remains from late Antiquity
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Amphora with Roman coins found at Tomares. Source: Dirección General de Bienes Culturales y Museos