23.2.2020 He dug a septic tank, found a silver treasure

Ladislav Frémuth from Běleček in Pardubice will certainly not forget one Saturday afternoon. Two years ago, when he was digging a septic tank at his old house, he discovered a silver treasure. Specifically, 189 coins from the 17th and 18th centuries. He originally thought he'd found beer caps.

Frémuth came across the coins by accident. He spent the weekend fixing up an old septic tank because he knew it was a necessity. He needed to get to the pipes, so he used a backhoe. But he saw the first coins when he was raking the ground. "The septic tank was in bad shape and needed to be repaired," the lucky finder noted.

At first he thought he had found just ordinary beer caps. But after a while, he began to realize that he had discovered something much rarer. He started searching the internet and called archaeologists to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"I was digging a septic tank and suddenly it came up. At first we really thought they were beer caps, then we found out they were rare coins," Frémuth said.

The coins were examined by archaeologists from the East Bohemian Museum. They found that they date from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They were mostly krejcars, three-krejcars, six-krejcars and fifteen-krejcars minted in the second half of the 17th century, mostly between 1670 and 1700.

Archaeologists also went to the site where they used a detector to find more coins. They tracked down more pieces. In total, the depot contained exactly 189 coins. Of course, the archaeologists documented the site.

"For its time, it was a typical mix of common denominations that was preserved in very nice condition. Evidently, the coins were kept in a bag or ceramic container," said Ladislav Nekvapil, head of the museum's specialist department and numismatist.

The coins come from different parts of German territories. Most of them were Austrian minted, but the depot also included pieces from the Olomouc bishopric. Specifically, the coins date from the period between 1670 and 1700.

In addition to the coins, archaeologists also found the remains of some ceramic vessels from different time periods. Whether the fragments are related to the coin hoard was determined by archaeologists in the laboratory.

Sources: www.vcm.cz, www.idnes.cz, www.tn.cz