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On an island in the English Channel near France, archaeologists have unearthed 1,600-year-old coins. One shows the image of a murdered emperor.
Frankfurt – Archaeological discoveries always cause a stir and close significant gaps in knowledge. Recently, experts in Innsbruck came across a unique, 1500-year-old ivory box. Now archaeologists have found two ancient coins on the island of Alderney in the English Channel. One of these coins shows the famous Emperor Valens, who was assassinated, according to the science website Live Science reported.
Historic find on Alderney: Bronze coin with image of Emperor Valens
One of the coins found is made of bronze and shows the image of Valens, an emperor who ruled the eastern part of the Roman Empire between 364 and 367 AD. Valens was killed by invading Goths at the Battle of Adrianople, in what is now Turkey. The image on the coin is barely recognizable because these bronze coins were not made to a particularly high standard, according to archaeologist Jason Monaghan. By this time, the decline of the Roman Empire in the West had already begun.
The second coin is a silver coin called “Antoninianus” from 255 AD. It depicts the bust of Valerian II, the grandson of the Roman emperor Valerian. However, Valerian II died under suspicious circumstances two years after becoming emperor.
Coin finds in the English Channel: Ancient inflation noticeable
Jason Monaghan describes the silver coin as “a little bigger than my thumbnail,” “quite thin” and not made entirely of silver. Due to inflation at the time, the Romans diluted the silver in their coins, the expert explains.
Alderney in the English Channel: “Like a miniature Pompeii”
Archaeologists have been conducting excavations on Alderney since 2008 and have discovered numerous remains. “It’s like a miniature Pompeii,” says Monaghan. In addition to a Roman fortress, the scientists also found other building remains, most recently in 2019. They suspect that the Romans monitored the trade routes off the French coast from the island.
The Rhine-Main area is also constantly being searched for Roman relics – for example in the planning of the new development area Marxheim II in Hofheim.
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