Woman in Czech Republic found medieval jackpot while walking

A woman discovered a nearly 900-year-old treasure consisting of over 2,150 medieval silver coins, so-called denarii, while walking through the town of Kutná Hora in the Central Bohemia region of the Czech Republic.

The woman found some silver coins while walking through a field in Kutnohorsku and contacted the authorities, the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic said in a press release on May 16.

The treasure consisted of more than 2,150 silver coins minted between 1085 and 1107. Experts believe they were made in Prague and imported to Bohemia. The treasure was kept in a ceramic container that was destroyed over the years, but archaeologists discovered the bottom of the container.

“The [discovery was] from a coin alloy that contains not only silver but also an admixture of copper, lead and trace metals,” the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ARUP) explained in the press release. “Determining this special composition can also help determine the origin of the silver used.”

Institute archaeologist Filip Velímský calls the discovery one of the greatest finds of the last decade and believes it is like winning the lottery – even if someone else were the loser. “The figure was probably put in its place in the first quarter of the 12th century, at a time of domestic political instability,” he said.

“At that time, there were disputes in the country between members of the Přemyslid dynasty over the princely throne of Prague,” he said. According to ARUP, fighting was commonplace during that period and the deposit could have been cash “for the payment of wages or war booty.”

Czech officials call the discovery “one of the biggest finds of the last decade.”

According to the experts, this owner could not have been just anyone. “Unfortunately, we do not have data on the purchasing power of contemporary coins for the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries,” he said. “But it was a huge, unimaginable – and at the same time unavailable – amount for a normal person. It is comparable to winning a million in the jackpot.”

The artifacts have been taken to a lab for further analysis and documentation, a process that will likely take a year. The artifacts will then be displayed in an exhibition expected to open in 2025.

Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ARUP)

Cover photo: Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ARUP)