Archaeologists exploring the waters off the Italian island of Sardinia have discovered a cache of between 30,000 and 50,000 coins dating back to the first half of the 4th century.
The Italian Ministry of Culture announced the find, which were initially made by a diver swimming just off the north-eastern coast of Sardinia. They quickly reported the discovery to officials, including the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Sardinia, and a larger search was organized.
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Photo courtesy Italian Ministry of Culture
All the coins date between the years 324 and 340, including from the reign of Constantine the Great. Excellently preserved, they come from mints throughout the Roman Empire. The archaeologists also found some amphorae of African production and a few pieces coming from Asia.
“The treasure found in the waters of Arzachena represents one of the most important discoveries of numismatic finds in recent years and highlights once again the richness and importance of the archaeological heritage that the depths of our seas, crossed by men and goods since the most ancient times, still guards and conserves,” says Luigi La Rocca, Doirctor General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape. “An extraordinary but also very fragile heritage, constantly threatened by natural phenomena and human action, for the protection of which the Ministry, through the action of its central and peripheral structures, has developed extraordinary recovery and conservation methodologies and techniques effectiveness and implemented innovative valorization strategies.”
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It is believed that the cache came from a ship that sunk off of Sardinia. The archaeologists hope to carry out restoration and conservation of the coins and other materials found to allow for a better understanding of what the ship may have bee doing before it sank.
Archaeologists exploring the waters off the Italian island of Sardinia have discovered a cache of between 30,000 and 50,000 coins dating back to the first half of the 4th century.
The Italian Ministry of Culture announced the find, which were initially made by a diver swimming just off the north-eastern coast of Sardinia. They quickly reported the discovery to officials, including the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Sardinia, and a larger search was organized.
All the coins date between the years 324 and 340, including from the reign of Constantine the Great. Excellently preserved, they come from mints throughout the Roman Empire. The archaeologists also found some amphorae of African production and a few pieces coming from Asia.
“The treasure found in the waters of Arzachena represents one of the most important discoveries of numismatic finds in recent years and highlights once again the richness and importance of the archaeological heritage that the depths of our seas, crossed by men and goods since the most ancient times, still guards and conserves,” says Luigi La Rocca, Doirctor General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape. “An extraordinary but also very fragile heritage, constantly threatened by natural phenomena and human action, for the protection of which the Ministry, through the action of its central and peripheral structures, has developed extraordinary recovery and conservation methodologies and techniques effectiveness and implemented innovative valorization strategies.”
It is believed that the cache came from a ship that sunk off of Sardinia. The archaeologists hope to carry out restoration and conservation of the coins and other materials found to allow for a better understanding of what the ship may have bee doing before it sank.
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