Swiss Treasure Hunter Uncovers Roman Coin Hoard, Largest Roman Hoard Found In Spain

Spain badger searching for food over the winter has dug up a stockpile of 209 Roman coins.

Sometime in the fourth century CE, during a fairly peaceful and economically stable time during the rule of the Roman Empire in what is currently Switzerland, someone buried a clay pot filled with coins in the border area between three Roman estates near the modern city of Bubendorf.

The hoard of coins remained there undisturbed until 17 centuries later, when amateur archaeologist Daniel Lüdin discovered them while surveying a forest area with a metal detector in September.

Practicing good citizenship, Lüdin covered his find and alerted the authorities at Archäologie Baselland, who were able to excavate the pot in one complete block allowing them to document the coins and expose them under laboratory conditions.

But the question remains as to why the coins were buried but never recovered.

This was the largest Roman hoard found in Spain to date.

They noted that it was a period of political instability, perhaps during the time of the founding of the Kingdom of Asturias during the Late Roman period, when the barbarians who attacked the Iberian Peninsula in 409 CE began arriving on the Roman Empire’s shores.