He found over 2,000-year-old Roman coins worth hundreds of thousands; he gave up the reward

While collecting mushrooms, he discovered a hoard of 175 Roman silver denarii from the period between 157 and 82 BC. These are mostly intact and remarkably well-preserved coins. This is an extremely rare archaeological find - it represents one of the few intact coin sets of the Republican era.

The coin was discovered in November 2021 by Alberto Cecio near Tenuta Bellavista Insuese, an organic farm, agro-tourist destination and nature reserve just a few kilometres north of Livorno. Cecio was searching for mushrooms near a recently cleared section of forest when he noticed a protruding container. On closer inspection, he realised it was hiding old silver coins and others were in the surrounding soil.

As a member of the Paleontological Archaeology Group in Livorno, a volunteer cultural organization, Cecio immediately realized the archaeological significance of the find. He immediately informed the local archaeological authority and waited patiently for six hours until archaeologists arrived on the site. The subsequent excavation succeeded in uncovering the remaining coins and the ceramic vessel in which they were stored.

The site and the discovery itself remained secret, allowing archaeologists to calmly and carefully document, conserve and research the assemblage. Given the dates, the quantity and the uniform face value, experts suggest that this treasure may have been the hoard of a Roman legionary. During this period, soldiers were paid in silver denarii, and a collection of 175 coins would correspond tothe legionary's salary for a year and a half of service,

The dating of the coins suggests that the hoard was buried during the turbulent period between 91 and 88 BC. AD, during the rebellion of Rome's former Italian allies. Subsequently, a civil war broke out between the forces of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla (83-82 BC). Interestingly, Gaius Marius was instrumental in getting the capite censi - the lowest class of Roman citizens who owned no property - conscripted into the army in 107 BC.

One can imagine that a non-wealthy citizen became a soldier and diligently saved his income to later invest it in land or go into business. In times of instability, he might have saved the coins so that, with any luck, he would never get his hands on them again: "This treasure is about the life of a man, a soldier, and his hopes of building his farm," said Lorella Alderighi, an archaeological officer for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno. "But it also tells a sad story: the owner of the coins died before he could fulfil his dreams with his savings. The coins tell his story," she added.

Studying the coins could give scientists more information and could even lead to changes in the basic typology created in 1974 (and still used today) to identify and date Roman coins: "It is one of the few hoards of ancient coins that have been found intact. It provides a wealth of numismatic, historical and social information," Dr Alderighi concluded.

Now the treasure and its vessel are on display in a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean in Livorno. The exhibition runs until 2 July and offers visitors a unique opportunity to admire and contemplate these precious relics of the rich history of the Roman Republic. Although Cecio was entitled to a reward of 25% of the value of the find (in this case approximately 150,000 crowns), he decided to waive this claim.

Roman Němec

Sources: edition.cnn.com, thehistoryblog.com, gruppoarcheopaleolivorno.it