Divers have found many ancient coins off the coast of Sardinia. They may indicate a previously undiscovered shipwreck.
Arzachena – Divers have made an extraordinary discovery in the Mediterranean off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia. Not far from the coast in the Arzachena area in the northeast of the island, they found tens of thousands of bronze coins from the first half of the 4th century AD.
Treasure discovered off the Italian island of Sardinia – the find dates back to the Roman Empire
The experts dived to the bottom of the sea after a tip from a private diver who came across metal remains at a shallow depth in early November. There they came across the “rich Follis deposit,” as the Italian Ministry of Culture announced. Follis is the scientific name for a Roman coin from the late imperial period.
Based on the weight, the archeology team estimates there are between 30,000 and 50,000 coins. According to the Ministry of Culture, they are in exceptionally good condition. Only four were damaged. Imprints and depictions on the coins showed that they mainly come from the reign of Constantine the Great, the period between 324 and 340 AD. Also Remains from the Roman Empire were last found in Germany.
Researchers suspect a previously undiscovered shipwreck at the site
The divers also discovered amphora walls from African and, to a lesser extent, from Oriental production. Amphorae are bulbous, narrow-necked storage vessels with two handles from antiquity. The finds extend over a large sandy area. The researchers suspect that there are remains of a shipwreck at the site that was obscured by currents, writes the Ministry of Culture. Three well-preserved shipwrecks were found in the Baltic Sea last year.
“The treasure found in the waters of Arzachena represents one of the most important numismatic discoveries in recent years and underlines once again the richness and importance of the archaeological heritage that shelters the depths of our earth,” said Luigi La Rocca, Director General of the Directorate of Archeology , visual arts and landscape. In the South China Sea Researchers discovered porcelain from the Ming Dynasty in shipwrecks. (mt)
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