Large treasure of silver coins dated to the Roman period has been accidentally discovered in Hrubieszów near Lublin, in eastern Poland.

The treasure of 1,753 silver coins weighing over five kilos was abandoned in the last stand of the Vandals before fleeing from the arriving Goths at the end of the second century AD when Europe was in upheaval as the Western Roman Empire was collapsing.

The First News reports that Andrzej Kokowski from the Archaeology Institute in Lublin, who discovered the presence of the Goths in the region, is in no doubt as to the scale of the find. “This is an amazing phenomenon of the ancient culture that can be seen in one place.

This treasure will be the crown of Polish archaeology,” he said.

The dinars are in the possession of the local museum in Hrubieszów, which released news of the find yesterday. However, the treasure was found in 2019 in a field near Cichobórz, south of Hrubieszów. The coins were spread out over a field after being churned up by farm equipment. They were spotted by local farmer Mariusz Dyl, who was looking for abandoned antlers.

Dyl immediately informed the staff at the museum in Hrubieszów about his discovery. Together they returned to the site and with a team of archaeologists and volunteers, they discovered another 137 coins.

The coins were not in one place but were spread by agricultural machines over 100 m. In total, 1,753 coins were discovered.

Local museum director Bartłomiej Bartecki said assessing the value of the find that the average pay for a Roman legionnaire at the time was about 300 dinars.

“You couldn’t buy a village for this, but it was not a small amount, especially for barbarian tribes,” he said

The archaeologists believe that the coins were originally placed in a wooden casket or leather pannier. Although the remains of the container have not survived, it is known that it was decorated with silver-plated rivets made of bronze as eight of them were found among the coins.