Hello, here as I announced last week the 3 most important Roman treasures discovered. I would remind you that detection is regulated (In France) and you are not allowed to detect anywhere. As I am not a professional on this subject, I invite you to inquire about the legislation. However, if you have, for example, the owner’s permission to detect in a field and the field is not classified as an archaeological site or other site, you have the right to detect. Now here are the 3 treasures.
Treasure of Frome
Frome’s treasure was discovered in 2010 by a young detectorist named Dave Crisp in the south of England. By its quantity of coins, it is one of the most important treasures discovered. Indeed, it is composed of no less than 52,503 coins all dating from the end of the 3rd century/early 4th century. The coins are mostly made of copper or bronze, although some are made of silver. The coins were stored in a ceramic vase of 45cm in diameter. The lot is estimated at more than 320,000 euros (375,000 euros).
The Treasure of Treves
It was in Treves in 1993 that 2518 aurei were discovered for a total of 18.5 kg of gold. Most of the coins date back to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. This treasure was discovered during work, when a digger was drilling the ground. The gold coins were contained in a bronze cauldron which was unfortunately damaged during the excavation of the treasure. Today, this treasure is on display in the Rhenan museum in Treves.
The Treasure of Lava
The lava treasure is certainly the most famous Roman treasure. It was discovered in September 1985 off the coast of Lava’s golf in Corsica by a group of sea urchin fishermen. This treasure consisted of 400 to 600 Roman gold coins, gold rings, a gold dish and according to some testimonies of a solid gold statue.
The coins were minted from 262 to 272 during the reigns of Gallienus, Quintillus, Claudius II the Gothic and Aurelianus. Among the gold coins, exceptional specimens were discovered such as the aurei of Quintillus and the multiples of Claudius II the Gothic and Gallienus. Unfortunately, some of the coins, rings and possible statue were melted down and resold at the price of gold. Even today, we can find certain coins from this treasure in the trade but this is extremely rare. The value of the treasure is now estimated at several million euros. Therefore, this treasure is one of the most important discovered.
If you want to know more, I recommend the book of Felix Biancamaria, one of the inventors of the treasure. Le Trésor de Lava : La Fièvre de l’or romain chez les plongeurs corses (this link will redirect you to Amazon and if you buy the book, I will receive a commission which allows me to finance part of the blog).
These are the three most important Roman treasures. I hope you enjoyed these stories and made this article useful. Also, if you detect, I wish you some nice finds. In fact, the next article will focus on “the 3 best metal detectors.” See you next week!
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