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A rare archaeological discovery in Germany has captivated historians: Silver coins dating back to the early 17th century have been found inside a copper cauldron during excavations at Gotthardtkirchplatz in Brandenburg an der Havel, a historic city in northeastern Germany. The treasure is believed to have been hidden around 1634, during the chaos of the Thirty Years' War.The discovery was made possible by a construction project for a new extension of the Youth Art Gallery Sonnensegel e.V., allowing archaeologists to investigate the site of a former half-timbered house. The building was abandoned and leveled in the 17th century -- and...

His expedition found a “mountain of gold” at the bottom of the Atlantic. But he might never see a cent of the lost fortune. It was late in the summer of 1988 when Tommy Thompson finally located a big rusty paddle wheel buried in ocean floor sediment. Now he was banking on an even bigger discovery: a cache of 19th-century gold worth as much as half a billion dollars. On September 11, Thompson and a crew of explorers hunkered down aboard the Arctic Discoverer, a retrofitted Canadian icebreaking ship about 160 miles east of South Carolina. There they deployed an...

BBC News reports that a metal detectorist recently retrieved a rare and unique gold coin from a field in Norwich. The artifact was analyzed by numismatist Adrian Marsden of the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, who believes it dates to between a.d. 640 and 660 and may be the oldest Anglo-Saxon coin ever found in East Anglia. It was minted at a transitional time in English history when Christianity was beginning eclipse pagan beliefs, which is reflected in the coin's iconography. One side of the thrymsa, a type of early Anglo-Saxon shilling, features a dancing man who seems to be holding...

Officials claim they used coins discovered inside a shipwreck off the coast of Colombia to prove the doomed vessel is the legendary San José that was carrying a $20 billion treasure when it sank. The Colombian government used an unmanned vehicle to inspect the wreckage of the 18th-century craft to prove it has found the lost Spanish galleon. The submersible carried out a non-intrusive investigation to document areas of the shipwreck that have yet to be photographed that contained coin-like objects, according to a study from Antiquity. Coins found in a hoard area in the ship’s stern were photographed and...

The Roman theater at Aspendos, now in southern Turkey, is better-preserved than any other in the classical world. It is still routinely used for performances. The Best-Preserved Roman Theater | 4:21 Toldinstone Footnotes | 41.7K subscribers | 5,896 views | June 3, 2025

A small bronze coin found at an ancient site near Tashkent has the potential to reshape archaeologists' understanding of early Turkic civilization, reports Türkiye Today. According to archaeologist Gaybulla Babayarov of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, the late sixth– or early seventh–century object is stamped with the phrase "Turk-Kagan" written in the Sogdian language. While the word "kagan," sometimes spelled khagan, refers to the ruler of an empire or khaganate, Babayarov argues the usage of the word "Turk" here denotes the oldest known reference to ethnic Turkic identity. Previously, the earliest known appearance of the term "Turk" came from eighth-century...

When farmer Ifor Edwards dropped his keys in a field he had no idea the search to find them would result in the discovery of buried treasure. Mr Edwards, 56 and his wife Anna, 40, called in enthusiasts from Wrexham Heritage Society when he lost his keys on land at Oak Farm in Bronington, near Whitchurch. But as well as finding his keys -- which had gone through a lawn mower -- the team armed with metal detectors also found 14 mediaeval coins dated from the 14th and 15th centuries. At an inquest in Ruthin the North East Wales Coroner...

My grandmother who passed away in 1996 had this thing where she was buying coins. I got a few ziplocks full of them stashed away in a draw that i'm thinking of checking out.

British authorities recently revealed a one-of-a-kind Iron Age coin hoard, according to a statement released by Chelmsford City Life. Known as the Great Baddow Hoard, it was discovered by metal detectorists in Great Baddow, Essex, in 2020, and is soon set to go on display for the first time at the Museum of Chelmsford. The treasure contains 933 gold coins dating to between 60 and 20 b.c., making it the largest Iron Age gold coin hoard ever found in Britain. The coins date to a time when British tribes were striking their own currency using regional dies instead of importing...

An ordinary spring day quickly became extraordinary after a nature-loving metal detectorist unearthed a cache of ancient treasure. Marius Mangeac confirmed the discovery to Fox News Digital. He said he found the hoard in a field near Letca Veche, a small village in southern Romania.. Mangeac said that he found the coins “on a beautiful Saturday that didn’t foreshadow anything of what was to come.” “I took my detector and went out alone, as I often do, for exercise and to relax in the fields and forests,”.. “I didn’t think this day would surprise me and bring me face to...

The hikers found the treasure hidden in a field overgrown by treesTwo tourists discovered a treasure trove of gold coins and bracelets while hiking in the Czech Republic. The hikers found the treasure in two containers hidden in a man-made wall in an overgrown field in February, according to an official Facebook post from the Museum of East Bohemia. Upon opening the containers, they discovered gold coins, bracelets, and cigarette cases weighing a total of 15 lbs. The museum — which is currently in possession of the treasure — said that the hikers began investigating the wall when they spotted...

The Traveller Collection, thought to be the most expensive coin collection to ever come to auction, will be sold off over the next three years - with the first sale taking place on May 20...When they were finally retrieved by the collector's heirs, the coins were stored in a bank vault and later presented to the auction house for sale. Unfortunately, no further details have been made available about the hiding or discovery of the coins, due to the family's request for privacy.The collector's detailed records made it easier for the team at the auction house to research the provenance...

A casual hike on the slopes of Zvičina Hill in the Czech Republic led to a remarkable discovery when two hikers stumbled upon a lost gold treasure worth more than $340,000. The find, made in early February but only recently announced, includes 598 gold coins, jewelry, and other artifacts. The entire collection weighs about seven kilograms, with gold coins accounting for nearly 3.7 kilograms. While exploring the landscape near the Polish border, the hikers uncovered a tin container packed with nearly 600 gold coins. The coins were carefully stacked in eleven piles and wrapped in black cloth. Not far from...

According to a statement released by Cal Poly Humboldt, recent archaeological work at Gradishte, near the North Macedonian village of Crnobuki, has revealed that a much more substantial ancient settlement existed there than originally thought. It was previously believed that the site was merely a military outpost built to defend against Roman attacks, but new excavations have uncovered evidence of a prosperous city that was much older than scholars had expected. The acropolis alone extended across an area measuring at least seven acres. Archaeologists have thus far unearthed stone axes, coins, a clay theater ticket, pottery, game pieces, and textile...

He had no doubts at first, but slowly they emerged. He was struck, he says, by the fact that the first coins bearing Muhammad’s name did not appear until the late 7th century — six decades after the religion did. He traded ideas with some scholars in Saarbrücken who in recent years have been pushing the idea of Muhammad’s nonexistence. They claim that “Muhammad” wasn’t the name of a person but a title, and that Islam began as a Christian heresy. Prof. Kalisch didn’t buy all of this. Contributing last year to a book on Islam, he weighed the odds...

It can arbitrate disputes with a flip, add shine to DIY art projects and keep fingernails clean when scratching a lotto ticket. But when it comes to commerce, it’s become so useless that even life-long cent collectors have begun cutting losses. “I've thrown pennies in the trash. Sometimes they’re in horrible condition. They’ve been out in the rain or buried in the dirt or corroded, or they're just damn ugly,” Dan Norris, owner of D&J Coins in Sheridan, told Cowboy State Daily. “I could take it to the bank and redeem it – but they’re pennies.” Norris was expressing one...

Reseachers uncover a pyramid-like structure in the Judean Desert, photo taken March 2025 (photo credit: JUDEAN DESERT SURVEY UNIT, ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY) =============================================================================== Experts uncover a massive pyramid-shaped structure, ancient papyrus documents and rare artifacts from Hellenistic-era rule in southern Israel, shedding new light on the region’s history. An excavation in the Judean Desert unearthed a massive 2,200-year-old pyramid-shaped structure alongside ancient papyri, weapons, tools, and fabrics, which experts are calling one of the richest archaeological excavations in the area. The Israel Antiquities Authority and the Heritage Ministry, which are jointly leading the dig north of Nahal Zohar, say...

For almost 20 years now, the physical act of making some of our money has weirdly been a money-loser for the United States Mint. Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are apparently looking to undo that paradox. Stop making cents In one of the first DOGE posts on X after the department was established, it highlighted the well-known oddity that each individual penny costs more than 3 cents to make and distribute. It also wrongly claimed that producing the coin set US taxpayers back more than $179 million in FY23. (That figure was the loss of minting...

In a move potentially foretold by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it seems the U.S. could be on the verge of ending penny production. President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he had asked the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, calling them “wasteful.” “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,”...

The U.S. Mint is offering Americans a bronze medal to commemorate “United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.” Clicking on the Mint’s “description” of what happened that day finds J6 protesters described as “a mob of insurrectionists.” The J6 commemorative medal / U.S. Mint Quick reminder: No J6 defendant was ever charged with “insurrection.” The coin/medal, is available in 1.5 or 3 inches in diameter and costs between $20 and $160. The Mint refers to the J6 medal as a “perfect gift for current and former police officers.” The description on the...