Archaeologists find coin from the age of Huns in Budapest

A few weeks ago, archaeologists of the Aquincum Museum found a coin in Óbuda which is worth tens of thousands of euros.

The coin was found at the excavation site in San Marco Street with the help of a metal detector, Magyar Múzeumok reports. The new apartment building being built there is located in the territory of the former military town of Aquincum. Houses were standing on the parcel during the 2nd and 3rd century A.D. which were separated by an almost 4m wide road. The town became mostly abandoned in the Late Roman Age; the territory served as a cemetery, but the road was in use until the 4th – 5th century.

The coin (solidus) was found in the layers above the abandoned houses, made in the mintage of Theodosius II. (401-450 A.D.) of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople.

The emperor himself is on the front, and the embodiment of the Byzantine capital as a woman is on the back of the coin.

The Carpathian Basin was mostly conquered by the Huns at this time. A substantial part of the former provinces of Pannonia was evacuated in the 430s, leaving them behind for the conquering eastern people.

The Byzantine Empire spent a significant amount of money and gave many presents to retain peace with the leaders of the Huns, Ruga, Attila and Bleda (Buda).

A part of these “taxes” was found in Szikáncs, on the Great Hungarian Plain in 1963. Most of the 1439 golden coins were minted during the reign of Theodosius II. as well.

The coin found in Óbuda is likely to be a part of these taxes, and it might have fallen out of the pouch of a Hun soldier. A solidus like this was worth 320l of crops, which equals a trooper’s wage for one and a half months.

The valuable coin will be exhibited in the Budapest History Museum. Check out the original article for more pictures 🙂

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Source: magyarmuzeumok.hu