Pot of 2,500-year-old gold coins discovered in Turkey

In the ancient city-state of Notion in Turkey, a wine vessel filled with gold coins of the "daric" type was discovered. They date from the 5th century BC and were probably minted in Sardis, about 100 km from the site of the discovery. This is the first ever hoard of gold coins in Asia Minor discovered in an archaeological context. It changes the view of the chronology of Persian coins.

The University of Michigan Archaeology Project has been documenting and excavating here since 2014. The most recent excavation revealed remains from the city's pre-Hellenistic rebuilding period. Pottery from the 5th century BC was discovered on the site, as well as parts of an ancient wall that was incorporated into the foundation of a 3rd century BC Hellenistic house. The coin jar lay beneath the courtyard of the house in a corner of the older building that originally stood there.

The daric coins depict a kneeling archer. The reverse bears only the hallmark. According to the Greek historian Xenophon, one daric was equal to a soldier's monthly wages. These coins were primarily used as mercenary soldiers of the Persian Empire. In the mid-sixth century BC, Notion was part of the Persian Empire, along with other Greek cities on the western coast of Turkey. Except for a brief Athenian period, the city-state was under Persian rule until its conquest by Alexander the Great in 334 BC.

The treasure may have been deposited during this turbulent period of changing owners of the city-state. This is the only hoard of Persian gold coins ever discovered in Asia Minor in an archaeological context. It provides experts with a rare opportunity to correct the timeline of Achaemenid gold coinage by analyzing the stratigraphy and absolute dating of the pottery found in the layer containing the coins.

"An archaeological find without contextual information is like a person suffering from amnesia - a person without memories," said Christopher Ratté, UM archaeologist and director of the Notion Archaeological Project. "It's still interesting and important, but the loss of knowledge is incalculable. In the case of this treasure, we know exactly where it was found, and we have a lot of circumstantial evidence about when it was deposited, probably in the late fifth century B.C.," he concluded.

The gold coins are now in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum in Selcuk, Turkey, along with pottery and other objects discovered during excavations in the courtyard.

Roman Nemec

Sources: record.umich.edu, livescience.com
You can see the nearly 2,000 Iron Age metal detector finds in the LH - Iron Age section

An aerial view of the house and the location of key finds, including a vessel with gold coins and pottery shards

the ruins of the Athenian temple at Notion

at the excavation site

a Persian gold daric coin