A metal detectorist in Romania set out with his machine, searching for a bit of relaxation in nature.
Breaking the silence, Marius Mangeac’s machine began to beep wildly. With each signal, his heart pounded harder in his chest, he said in an April 22 Facebook post.
Mangeac had found a hoard of ancient Roman coins — 1,469 silver denarii — buried in a field in Letca Nouă. He said the discovery left him in disbelief.
The coins featured the faces of 11 Roman emperors and empresses, including Nero and Marcus Aurelius, according to the University of Oxford’s Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project database.
The coins date back to the Roman Imperial Period, which lasted from 31 BC to 476 AD, making the hoard at least 1,538 years old.
The hoard was found with a ceramic vessel that was broken, records show.
Mangeac said he photographed the coins before turning them over to authorities.
Experts said the hoard likely belonged to a very wealthy individual, according to Romanian news outlet TVRInfo.
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