A tourist has stumbled upon a hoard silver coins from the 13th and 14th centuries under an uprooted tree near Piešťany in western Slovakia. He promptly notified the authorities who then contacted the Regional Monuments Board (KPÚ) in Trnava.
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| Credit: KPÚ Trnava |
Archaeologists were dispatched to the area where they began searching the site with a metal detector and recovered 147 medieval silver coins in total. The hoard comprises mostly of Wiener pfennigs but there are also Hungarian imitations of Wiener pfennigs that were minted in the years 1251 and 1330.
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| Credit: KPÚ Trnava |
“The coins were probably originally buried in a leather pouch or wrapped in fabric,” said Matúš Sládok of the KPÚ Trnava, “although no traces of the material was found.”
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| Credit: KPÚ Trnava |
“Owners hid their movable property, especially finances, in unstable times when they were trying to protect it from enemies and robbers,” Sládok added.
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| Credit: KPÚ Trnava |
“The fact that these coins were discovered means that the owners had either died or simply forgot to retrieve their hidden money,” Sládok explained.
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| Credit: KPÚ Trnava |
An expert will now estimate the value of the discovery. The tourist who found the coins has asked for a finder’s fee.
Source: The Slovak Spectator [October 19, 2020]
