Ancient Celtic Coin Cache Found in Netherlands

[Astronuc]

Ancient Celtic coin cache found in Netherlands
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_sc/eu_netherlands_celtic_coins_2

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – A hobbyist with a metal detector struck both gold and silver when he uncovered an important cache of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.

"It's exciting, like a little boy's dream," Paul Curfs, 47, said Thursday after the spectacular find was made public.

Archaeologists say the trove of 39 gold and 70 silver coins was minted in the middle of the first century B.C. as the future Roman ruler Julius Caesar led a campaign against Celtic tribes in the area.

Curfs said he was walking with his detector this spring and was about to go home when he suddenly got a strong signal on his earphones and uncovered the first coin.

"It was golden and had a little horse on it — I had no idea what I had found," he said.

After posting a photo of the coin on a Web forum, he was told it was a rare find. The following day he went back and found another coin.

"It looked totally different — silver, and saucer-shaped," he said. Curfs notified the city of his find, and he and several other hobbyists helped in locating the rest of the coins, in cooperation with archaeologists.

Nico Roymans, the archaeologist who led the academic investigation of the find, believes the gold coins in the cache were minted by a tribe called the Eburones that Caesar claimed to have wiped out in 53 B.C. after they conspired with other groups in an attack that killed 6,000 Roman soldiers.

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Wow! This is neat!

 

[mgb_phys]

Doubt was cast on the authenticity of the coins when they were found to be stamped with the date 55 BC.
(sorry couldn't resist ;-)

 

[Evo]

Doubt was cast on the authenticity of the coins when they were found to be stamped with the date 55 BC.
(sorry couldn't resist ;-)

 

[HallsofIvy]

Doubt was cast on the authenticity of the coins when they were found to be stamped with the date 55 BC.
(sorry couldn't resist ;-)

Hate to step on a joke but 55 bc was 2 years before 53 bc and so there would not be a problem.

 

[hypatia]

That is so cool. I've had a metal detector for many years. Some of the things I've found.
A plaque dedicating the the telegraph line strung on Telegraph Road
1 toy truck
1 cabbage patch doll name tag
1 toy harmonica
2 wire coat hangers
a lot of common coins
1 mercury dime
1 silver earing
several spoons
many pull tops from soda
several odd bits of unknown metal
several metal buttons

I may be waiting a long time for the "big haul"

 

[wolram]

That is so cool. I've had a metal detector for many years. Some of the things I've found.
A plaque dedicating the the telegraph line strung on Telegraph Road
1 toy truck
1 cabbage patch doll name tag
1 toy harmonica
2 wire coat hangers
a lot of common coins
1 mercury dime
1 silver earing
several spoons
many pull tops from soda
several odd bits of unknown metal
several metal buttons

I may be waiting a long time for the "big haul"

Hypatia, if you have the gift of the gab here abouts is to find good stuff, the trouble for me is, as soon as the farmers see me coming they get their shot guns out, which is not fair, the last load of good finds i had 3/4 went to the land owner.

Mostly bronze Roman.

 

[mgb_phys]

Hate to step on a joke but 55 bc was 2 years before 53 bc and so there would not be a problem.

Unless you didn't get the joke in which case