A Metal Detectorist Stumbled Upon a Hoard of Nearly 1,500 Roman Coins

An amateur metal detectorist discovered a buried hoard of nearly 1,500 Roman coins near Bucharest, Romania.
The coins, which spanned multiple eras, were buried in a ceramic container roughly 1,700 years ago.
Letca Veche, where the detectorist discovered the coins, will be declared an archaeological site, and professionals will perform further research in the area of the discovery.

Metal detectors work by transmitting an electromagnetic field from the search coin (that round part that detectorists sweep back and forth) into the ground. If a metal object falls within the pulse, it becomes energized and returns its own electromagnetic field to the machine, alerting the user. The detector can be set off by discarded bottle caps, modern coins, or even chunks of lead in the ground, but sometimes the treasure proves to be more exciting.

The machines prove so effective that researchers often include metal detector surveys in their archaeological studies. Even amateur detectorists have found incredible artifacts with their machines. Just recently, one found a golden raven head and another found a hoard of Iron Age artifacts. And that list of big discoveries is still growing, as one metal detectorist scanning a field unearthed nearly 1,500 Romanian coins.

The man who discovered the hoard, Bebe Mangeac, went out for a typical day with his trusty metal detector—a model he described to What’s The Jam as “average and neither cheap nor top end.” He explained that he goes out for the exercise, never knowing what he’s going to find. The area he picked for this particular hunt was in Letca Veche, a hilly area with soft soil and little vegetation southwest of Bucharest, Romania.

Mangeac began scouting the area, and his machine soon picked up a signal not far beneath the surface. Mangeac gently dug into the topsoil—that’s when he saw them: the first silver coins. They appeared oxidized yet still well defined.

“My hands were shaking,” Mangeac said. “The coins kept coming out. I didn’t want to leave any behind. When you realise you’ve made a hard-earned discovery, part of you wants to celebrate. The other, more instinctive part tells you to hurry up. Every minute of light was important, especially since the size of the monetary treasure was enormous.”

As he kept digging, Mangeac hit ceramic. Well, more like ceramic shards of what once was a storage vessel, likely an amphora or a dolium. The broken vessel could indicate that the owner of the hoard smashed it intentionally in a protective ritual before burying it. He continued to carefully unearth the collection—and the coins just kept coming. Once he was finished at the site, Mangeac uncovered 1,469 silver coins along with the ceramic pieces.

“I didn’t count them all there and then, but it felt like there were a lot,” he remarked. “I mean, a lot.”

The coins are believed to be Denarius coins (Roman coins) buried around 1,700 years ago. Some depict Emperor Trajan and others elephant iconography. The coins appear to be from several different periods, likely a result of accumulating the collection over time.

The real time crunch began when Mangeac got home with the hoard. In Romania, citizens have 72 hours to hand artifacts of historical significance over to the authorities. Mangeac notified the police and they took note of where he found the treasure. The site will later be deemed an archeological site and subjected to further research.

The hoard, originally discovered in mid April, is currently held by the County Directorate for Culture. The collection will eventually be put on display at the Teohari Antonescu County Museum in Giurgiu. Though the worth has yet to be calculated, Mangeac is entitled to a hefty 45% of the value if the haul is classified as treasure.

Perhaps Mangeac is the perfect example of why metal detecting should be the next hobby you pick up—and maybe you and your “average” machine will make the next monumental archeological discovery in your area.

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