2 100-year-old Roman silver coins discovered near Sicily

A rare set of 27 silver Roman coins from the Republican period of the 1st century BC has been discovered on the island of Pantelleria. It is in the same place where other silver coins of the same period were discovered 14 years ago, and near the recent discovery of statues of three emperors.

The discovery was made by a team led by archaeologist Thomas Schaefer from the University of Tuebingen in Germany as part of a clean-up project and restoration of the acropolis, which is part of Europe's largest archaeological park, the 270-hectare Selinunte. The acropolis is one of the largest in the Mediterranean; it contains the remains of an ancient Greek colony founded in the 7th century BC. It is located near the ancient quarry of Cave di Cusa, which was used to build the temples of Selinunte.

In 2010, 107 Roman silver coins from the late Republican period were discovered in the acropolis. The newly discovered coins were minted in Rome and date from the same period between 94 and 74 BC. Some were lying in loose soil, washed away after recent heavy rains, while others were found among the stones during the excavation. All have already been conserved and catalogued. The set was discovered near the site where, a few years earlier, experts found three famous heads of imperial statues of Caesar, Agrippina the Younger and Titus.

"This discovery offers valuable information for reconstructing the events, trade contacts and political relations that marked the Mediterranean during the Republican period," said Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, the regional councillor for cultural heritage, adding that archaeologists believe the treasure may have been hidden during a pirate attack and the owner did not have time to retrieve it.

Roman Nemec

Sources: agenziacult.it, reuters.com, cyprus-mail.com

• Coin finds by metal detectors can be seen in the section LH: Coins
  
• You can see the finds of artifacts from the Roman period in the section LH: Roman period

Selinunte - Europe's largest archaeopark

ČPart of the coins before cleaning

Jone of the coins among the stones

JOne of the coins in the set after cleaning

Marinella di Selinunte and the Temple of Hera as seen from the acropolis of Selinunte

Plane of the acropolis

Temple of Hera in Selinunte