Unique Roman coin treasure found at Bunnik

At Bunnik, two seekers with a metal detector 404 gold and silver coins from the start of the era found. “The coin find can be associated with the Roman invasion of Great Britain in 43 AD,” says Jasper de Bruin, curator of the Netherlands in the Roman times of the Rijksmuseum van Antiquities in Leiden. “The coins were probably taken by a Roman soldier as a soldier and loot.”

The two seekers (former police officer Gert-Jan Messelaar and Reinier Koelink, who worked in mental health care) have already found the coins purchased by the Leiden museum and presented this Monday, already found in October 2023. Then they neatly reported the find. Archaeologist Anton Cruysheer of Landscape Heritage Utrecht subsequently identified and studied the coins. It is striking that the collection found not only contains 360 Roman but also 44 British coins. “Such a coin find has never been found on the European mainland before,” says Cruysheer. “Only in 2019 a similar coin treasure was found in 2019.”

Typical client king

The British coins are so -called Staters – small not regularly formed coins made from an alloy of gold, silver and copper. In Latin letters, they bear the abbreviated name of King Cunobelinus, who prevailed from approximately 5 to 40 AD around Colchester on the Celtic tribe de Catuvellauni. According to the twelfth-century historian Geoffrey van Monmouth, Cunobelinus was a powerful warrior and raised at the court of Augustus. He is said to have been succeeded by one or two sons, who continued to use his name for their coins. “Cunobelinus was a typical client king,” says De Bruin. “That is why he wrote his name in Latin and called Colchester Camulodunum.”

The collection of Roman coins is formed by 288 silver denarii, dating from 200 v. To 47 AD. Chr., And 72 Golden Aurei, all of which from the first century AD. tribes. De Bruin: “The youngest, with the image of Emperor Claudius, were beaten around 46-47. Two of these coins have an identical stamp. They do not show traces of wear, so they are not used and come directly from the state treasury. Because of the combination with the British coins, we assume that the coin treasure was a soldier and a soldier who was involved in the invasion and conquest of Great Britain between 43 and 47. ”

Throne

Officially, Emperor Claudius ordered the invasion of putting an ally, who was probably deposited by the two sons of Cunobelinus, on his throne again. “But in fact it was a war of conquest,” says De Bruin. “The preparations for the invasion were already going on much earlier.” In two strokes, the sons of Cunobelinus were defeated by the Roman forces. Bataven was also part of it.

Dutch archaeologists have for some time indications that the invasion took place via (among other things) the Lower German Limes, the northern border of the Roman Empire in the Netherlands. “Before 43 there are all kinds of troop concentrations in specially built forts, and shortly thereafter there suddenly seem to be fewer troops. Now we have proof for the first time that the return, at least for a few, loaded with loot and presents from the emperor, happened via the Netherlands, “says De Bruin.

The question is why the Roman soldier has buried his valuables near Bunnik. “The value of all coins together was equal to eleven annual salaries of a soldier,” says Cruysheer.

More coins

Archaeologists found even more coins on the site of the find during an excavation last year. The precise location will remain secret for the time being, says De Bruin. “But in Roman times he was far away from civilization, in a wet environment.” That is why the archaeologists take into account that the coin treasure has been sacrificed.

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