DEBNEVO, BULGARIA—Live Science reports that five small gold coins minted during the sixth-century a.d. reign of Justinian the Great have been found in a 1,000-year-old dwelling in northern Bulgaria. Justinian is shown wearing a pearl diadem on the front of the coins, while the back bears an image of Victory holding a wreath in her right hand and a cross and globe in her left. Archaeologist Stiliyan Ivanov of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences suggests that the Byzantine coins may have been discovered when the medieval structure was built on top of an earlier one. “Our working hypothesis is that the [medieval] owners kept the coins because of the gold value,” he explained. Iron tools, including two sickles and two axes; a belt buckle; three bronze rings; and pottery were also recovered from the medieval house. Two of the five gold coins are stuck together, perhaps because they were burned by the fire that destroyed the dwelling, resulting in the abandonment of the site. To read more about Justinian's reign and Byzantine commerce, go to "Shipping Stone."
