Found a Roman coin in my backyard last Saturday...

I was just digging a hole for a new rose bush in my backyard in Chester, UK and my spade hit something hard. Pulled out this small bronze coin that I thought was just junk at first. Took it to a local archaeologist I know and he said it's a Roman sestertius from around 150 AD. He said the emperor on it might be Antoninus Pius which is wild because I've never found anything old than a 1960s bottle cap before. The condition is rough but you can still see the outline of a figure on one side. I spent the whole rest of the day just staring at it and wondering who dropped it there 1,800 years ago. Has anyone else ever stumbled on something ancient completely by accident? I still can't believe it happened to me.

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan91528d ago

Antoninus Pius though??? That's actually insane. Ive watched so many metal detecting shows where people find Roman coins in the UK but I always thought it was just locations people already knew about.

sandragonzalez28d ago

WAIT what, Antoninus Pius? Like the ACTUAL emperor from like 140 AD? That's not just some random coin, thats a literal piece of history just sitting in some field for almost 2000 years. I cant even wrap my head around that, the detectorist must have literally screamed.