Ancient Coin Found at Pub Site in Slovakia

SPIŠSKÉ VLACHY, SLOVAKIA—The Slovak Spectator reports that a fourth-century A.D. coin bearing an image of the Roman emperor Constantius II was unearthed during an excavation in Spišské Vlachy, a town in eastern Slovakia. At the time the coin was minted, iron ore was processed in the region. Mária Hudáková of the Museum of Spiš Territory said researchers also uncovered a wooden floor dated to the second half of the eighteenth century, traces of the building’s heating system, and kitchen ceramics and Polish and Hungarian coins. “We assume there was some kind of pub,” said archaeologist Matúš Hudák. “There is also wall graffiti, pictures of gallows, and a sword….There is also an entrance to the cellar where beer and wine were kept.” The fourth-century coin may have been placed at the site as a protective talisman when the structure was built, Hudák added. To read about a cache of Roman coins that archaeologists believe was buried during Constantius' reign, go to "Seaton Down Hoard," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2014.