Farmer discovers massive hoard of Roman coins in his cherry orchard

(Image credit: Kanton Aargau)

published 19 November 2015

What started out as just a green glint peeking out of a molehill ended up being the discovery one of "the largest hoards" of bronze Roman-period coins ever excavated in Switzerland. After a farmer made the discovery in his cherry orchard in Ueken, Switzerland, archaeologists got to work in September and have since unearthed 4,166 bronze coins that they say date back to A.D. 295.

"What we found within the first three days exceeded all expectations by far," Swiss archaeologist Georg Matter said. The hoard was discovered in an area "of just a few square meters," Swiss Info reports, and weighs in at 33 pounds. Some coins were found still wrapped in cloth or in leather bags. A number of emperors have been identified on the coins, including Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, Diocletian, and Maximian.

Especially notable was the coins' excellent condition, leading archaeologists to surmise that the coins were intentionally buried and had not been in circulation for long. "The owner must have deliberately chosen these coins in order to hoard them," Swiss numismatist Hugo Doppler. "Their silver content would have guaranteed a certain value conservation in a time of economic uncertainty." While archaeologists aren't sure how much the coins would have been worth back then, they "reckon it would easily have been one or two years' salary," Swiss Info reports,