Sunday, July 11, 2010

Why are there so many ancient Roman coins?

The main reason is that they were stored in such a way that so many of them survived. There was no such thing as bank vaults 2000 years ago. So what the Romans did and sometimes before them the Greeks, was to bury the coins in massive jars till they were needed. Well, by the 4 century AD there was not too much need for the coins and of course they were forgotten. Now over the last 40 or so years there have been massive amounts of these coins found. By the hundreds of thousands to be exact.




Ancient Roman coins are even owned by your humble writer here. However they really have, and I have to admit sadly, not the greatest value. But still there is a historic thrill when you hold one in your hand. Cause you know you are touching history.





Just within the last few months 52,000 Roman coins were found in a massive jar in England. There are many more still not discovered.