November 30, 2012 Jílovský treasure contained 3662 coins

Nine years ago, 3,662 coins were discovered during excavation work on a farm near Jílové near Prague. The depot contained Prague grosz and 3 krejcars. Someone probably hid it at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The treasure was found in November 2012 during repairs to the pipeline. It all started when a sewage pipe burst on a farm in the middle of the fields, two kilometres from the nearest village. When the locals set about repairing and digging out the damaged pipe, they found that not only dirt but also silver coins were spilling out of the bucket of the digger.

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Care of Central Bohemia went to the site. The coins were found in two clay containers. Archaeologists traced about fifty more pieces during the field survey. They used metal detectors and special probes to search for them.

"It's a great joy because the discovery of a large hoard of coins from the beginning of the 30 Years War, sometime around 1620, it will be, it's obviously a great event for archaeology, for numismatics," said archaeologist and numismatist Jiří Militký from the Centre for Medieval Studies.

Photo gallery here: Coin finds Jílové u Prahy

The coins were probably hidden by someone after the outbreak of the so-called Thirty Years' War. "Our numismatists, Jiří Militký and Kamil Smíškovi, have managed to find out that the coins were probably hidden in 1619 in connection with theactions during the Czech Estates Uprising," Tereza Petáková, spokesperson for the National Museum in Prague, commented on the discovery at the time.

The coins weighed a total of 7.5 kilos. In those days, such a depot could buy a small house in a smaller town. The depot contained a mixture of coins of medium values, practically from the whole of Central Europe. There was a significant presence of coins from Poland, which experts say is untypical in this country.

"The oldest, on first inspection, are the Czech Prague grosz, and of course this treasure will help us gain insight into the monetaryCzech Republic around 1620," Militký said, adding that a similar find occurs once every 15 years.

The treasure was acquired by the Jílové u Prahy Museum, where a presentation about the coins was also held. "I believe there are many more treasures like this hidden in the area. Therefore, it can be said with exaggeration that when I replant flowers in my garden, I deliberately dig a little deeper," said Šárka Alexa, the museum's director in charge at the time.

Sources: www.stribrnak.cz, www.idnes.cz, www.ct24.cz