Cache of Roman Coins Discovered in Bulgaria

SOFIA, BULGARIA—An excavation in Sofia’s Sveta Nedelya Square has uncovered a clay pot containing nearly 3,000 Roman coins. The silver coins appear to have made up a collection—the oldest ones bear the image of Emperor Vespasian, who reigned from A.D. 69 to 79. There are also coins minted during the reigns of each of the seven emperors of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, which began in A.D. 96, and ended with Commodus, who ruled from 177 to 192. Coins bearing images of notable women of the dynasty, such as Faustina the Elder, Faustina the Younger, Bruttia Crispina, and Lucilla, were also found. The pot bears the name Selvius Callistus, who is thought to have been the collection’s last owner. “This is the first find of such magnitude made as part of a planned dig. I think it is not accidental either—we do not want to leave our cultural and historical heritage to chance, which is why we have invested in a lot of digs in recent years,” Yordanka Fandakova, the city’s mayor, told The Sofia Globe. To read about similar artifacts, go to "Artifact: Roman Coins in Israel."