Roman gold coins discovered in Italian theatre

The Local IT ^ | 9 September 2018 | staff

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Hundreds of ancient Roman gold coins have been discovered on the site of an old theatre in Como in northern Italy, the Ministry of Culture said.

The coins date back to the end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and were found in a kind of stone urn in the Cressoni theatre basement, not far from the site of the ancient city of Novum Comum. 

 

According to Italian media, the coins could be worth millions of euros.

 

"We do not yet know in detail the historical and cultural significance of this discovery but this area is a real treasure for our archeology," said Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli on Facebook. 

 

The theatre, which was inaugurated in 1870 and later became a cinema before closing in 1997, was due to be demolished to allow the construction of a luxury residence.

 

Authorities now plan to suspend work at the site to allow further excavations, according to local media.

 

Centinaia di monete d'oro della tarda epoca imperiale sono state rinvenute in pieno centro a #Como, in un recipiente in pietra ollare di forma inedita. “Una scoperta che mi riempie di orgoglio” ha detto il ministro @BonisoliAlberto pic.twitter.com/ff6ep38gtG — MiBAC (@_MiBAC) September 7, 2018

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Nice!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

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[laplata]

What a find. Beautiful.

[a fool in paradise]

With that kind of money in the basement the theater never should’ve had to close in the first place

[a fool in paradise]

What’s a stone urn...

Apparently millions

[C210N]

potentially a nice way to urn a living

[Puppage]

You just couldn’t contain yourself, could ya?

[cuban leaf]

I wonder who’s going to get to keep the coins.

[bgill]

So, that’s where I left them.

[DCBryan1]

You just couldn’t contain yourself, could ya?

Ya'll quit cracking jokes.

[C210N]

Should be more serious. It’s like we are all on jugs.

[JimRed]

Not smart enough to shovel, pocket and shut up. Dot GOV gets it all now.

[BlueLancer]

Roman gold coins discovered in Italian theatre

Boy, and I thought that you needed a lot of money now to go to the theater and pay for popcorn and a drink!

[a fool in paradise]

EUSSRUN

[pepsi_junkie]

I wonder if the value of these is numismatic or just the gold itself? I inherited a collection of ancient coins from my gradfather in the 80s. I was excited and figured silver coins that were 2000 years old had to be worth a fortune. It turns out that, with a few exceptions, they are worth less than a middling silver dollar from a bad year. Supply and demand, there just aren't that many people who collect these things so even though the supply isn't tremendous, it's sufficient to readily meet the demand.

Pristine gold coins though are surely more prized. Even museums might want them. We might get lucky and see these coins preserved as coins rather then turned into gold bricks.

[laplata]

For sure.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

When such a find is made I often wonder what happened to the person who buried them as he was never able to retrieve them.

[SunkenCiv]

You're my favorite. :^)

[SunkenCiv]

They've cotta keep doin' that, as long as they're on this terra.

[SunkenCiv]

Ancient Rome didn't have banks or a banking system. Plus, when the barbarians come in and burn down the city, it's better to travel light on the chance that one could return when the thugs move on, and recover the cache.