Archaeologists dug up 737 Roman coins spanning centuries of imperial rule in western Hungary

Seven hundred and thirty-seven Roman coins have come out of the ground at three separate sites in Somogy County, western Hungary, in projects organised by the Rippl-Rónai Museum. The earliest piece is a silver coin of Antoninus Pius, who reigned from AD 138 to 161. Most of the rest belong to the Constantinian dynasty of the fourth century, so the group stretches across roughly two hundred years of imperial coinage.

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The finds were reported in late October 2026 and came from community archaeology work in the northern and central parts of the county, where professional archaeologists and volunteers worked together. Alongside the 737 coins, the diggers recovered pottery, brooches known as fibulae and a fragment of a balance, which gives the money some everyday company. Terra sigillata, the red-gloss tableware of the Roman world, is also reported among the pottery, a marker of households that could afford imported or regionally traded dishes.

Three sites in Somogy County and what came with the coins

According to HeritageDaily’s report on the discovery, the coins were split among three separate locations, though the account does not name them or say how many came from each. Hungary Today also reported on Roman-era coins in the county, and none of the coverage found identifies individual excavators or quotes a named researcher, so the Rippl-Rónai Museum is the only body on record.

That absence limits what can be said about context. Without find-spot details, it is unclear whether the coins were lost one at a time, buried as hoards or scattered through settlement layers. The accompanying scale fragment and fibulae hint at ordinary habitation and trade, but the announcement draws no conclusions, and a full catalogue from the museum would be needed before any site could be tied to a particular building or period of use.

From Antoninus Pius to the Constantinian dynasty

The oldest identified piece is the silver coin of Antoninus Pius, an emperor of the second century. From there the series jumps forward. Single coins of Severus Alexander, who ruled in the third century, appear in the group, followed by pieces of Aurelian, Probus and Claudius II. The bulk of the 737, however, were struck under the Constantinian family, whose small bronzes circulated heavily in the fourth century and are common finds across the former empire.

Such an imbalance is typical of provincial sites. Fourth-century bronzes were issued in large numbers and stayed in circulation for decades, so they dominate the archaeological record, while earlier silver survives only as occasional strays. A single Antoninus Pius coin among hundreds of Constantinian pieces is not evidence of a second-century settlement, since old silver was often hoarded or reused long after it was minted.

The Constantinian family ruled from the early fourth century to the 360s, and its small bronze coinage was struck at many mints and shipped to every frontier province. Because the coins are small, worn and often poorly struck, field identification can be slow, and the dating of individual pieces usually depends on mint marks and reverse types that conservators must clean before they can be read. The museum has not yet said how many of the 737 are fully identified.

Aurelian, Probus and a rare consecration coin

Several of the individual pieces carry imagery tied to the political messaging of the third century. A coin of Aurelian, who ruled from AD 270 to 275, shows the emperor with Concordia, the personification of harmony. Coins attributed to Probus, emperor from AD 276 to 282, are linked to Sol Invictus, the sun god Aurelian promoted, and to the slogan Pax Augusti, the peace of the emperor.

The group also includes a consecration coin of Claudius II Gothicus, who held power from AD 268 to 270. Consecration issues were struck after an emperor’s death to mark his deification, and the reports describe this one as rare. For a numismatist, such a posthumous coin is a useful dating anchor, because it can only have been minted after the ruler died, which puts a firm lower limit on when it was lost.

Western Hungary as the province of Pannonia

Somogy lies within the territory of the Roman province of Pannonia, the frontier region south and west of the Danube, where coinage reached the population mainly through the army and imperial administration. The sequence from the second to the fourth century therefore tracks the long life of a border province rather than a single episode of loss. Coins that reached a provincial farmstead or roadside settlement in the third and fourth centuries were often debased and small, which helps explain why so many survive in the soil: they were worth little enough that losing one was a minor inconvenience.

What remains open is how the three assemblages relate to the known road network and settlements of the county, and whether the museum will publish the sites by name. Until a catalogue appears, the core numbers, 737 coins at three sites with emperors spanning about two centuries, rest on the museum’s announcement alone.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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