Amateur archaeologists find a hoard of gold Roman coins of nine emperors

A set of 141 Roman gold solidi from the late 4th century was discovered in the Um Rank field near Holzthum, Luxembourg. These are the coins of nine emperors who ruled between 364 and 408. This is an absolutely exceptional coin set, unparalleled in the archaeological record of Luxembourg. The find amounts to almost 8 million crowns.

The first coins were discovered by a pair of amateur archaeologists in September 2019. They were mainly interested in ceramic shards, having searched for them many times in this field. When one of the pair came to look at the second field, a glint of gold on the surface caught his eye. It was a Roman coin in near mint lustre. The pair then decided to examine the area with a metal detector. In less than an hour, they discovered nearly forty more coins.

Fortunately, they didn't dig up the coins, just marked the spots and contacted the authorities immediately. Archaeologists worked on the site for four years before the results were presented to the public for fear of illegal treasure hunters. The excavations were carried out with the utmost care. The work was also delayed for security reasons - the area is quite frequent for the discovery of explosives and ammunition from the Second World War. Both the finders and the landowner were invited to the research and became part of the archaeological team.

The remains of a Roman burgus, a small fortified watchtower, were also discovered on the site. Such towers were quite common on the borders of the Empire with Germanic areas in the 4th century. Several graves from the same period were discovered around the tower. At the end of the 4th century, the area of present-day Luxembourg was part of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. Roman troops left the area in 406, when the youngest coins of the hoard were struck.

All coins are in excellent condition. The set contains very rare examples; the three rarest coins were issued by Emperor Eugenius, who reigned for only two years. Experts have estimated the value of the hoard at 308,600 euros (about 7.7 million crowns). This amount was paid by the Ministry of Culture to the landowner and the finders.

The archaeological excavation was completed last month and the data from the field is now being analysed in the laboratory. The results will be published in a scientific publication.

Sources: inra.public.lu, gouvernement.lu, actu.fr

Description of each coin from left to right : Valens, Valentinianus I, Valentinianus II, Valentinianus I (? - 90%), Theodosius I, Magnus Maximus, Eugenius, Arcadius, Honorius