Historians excited by Czech coin find of the century

Historians at the East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice have acquired what they describe as “the find of the century”. The treasure, consisting of hundreds of silver coins from the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries was discovered by chance in the autumn of last year. The coins are now the subject of detailed analysis before going on public display.

Photo: CTK

The chance discovery of the thousand-year old treasure occurred in November last year, but it was not until this Wednesday that it was announced to the public. Even then, however, historians refused to reveal any details about the exact location of the find out of fear that it would cause a “silver fever” among amateur treasure hunters.

Tomáš Libánek, a historian and the head of the East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice, outlines the details of the discovery:

“They are coins, which were probably saved in a clay pot, part of which was preserved as well. There were exactly 400 silver coins and about 360 fragments of coins - denarii from the end of the tenth century, from the era of Boleslaus II and Boleslaus III. We can probably also identify coins from the era of Bolesław I the Brave, the duke of Poland.”

According to historians, it is clear that someone must have put the money aside and for reasons that will probably remain unknown, hid them underground at a certain point.

What is clear, though, is that the coins must have had great value at the time they were made and couldn’t have belonged to anyone else but the duke’s family or some noblemen linked to the duke’s family. Tomáš Libánek again:

“The coins were made of high quality silver, and most of them probably came from Prague mints. These coins were not used for regular trading on our territory. They were supposed to demonstrate the strength of the early medieval state and they were mostly used for silver export and for international trade.”

Photo: CTK

Mr Libánek says that the silver treasure represents the biggest discovery dating back to the country’s earliest history that has ever been made. And while he says that it is hard to express its value in terms of money, he estimates that the finder will receive at least one million crowns as a reward, which usually amounts to ten percent of a find’s real value.

The location of the discovery will now be subjected to an extensive archaeological survey. The silver coins are expected to go on display in the East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice in September this year.