Archeologists Have Discovered a Trove of 300-Year-Old Silver Coins Hidden Beneath the Floor of a Renaissance Church in Slovakia

Slovakian archeologists have
uncovered a trove of 500 silver coins dating as far back as 1702
hidden underneath a church floor. The significant historical find
was made after construction workers discovered the ruins of a
Renaissance-era church underneath the 19th-century church they were
renovating.

The archeological company
Triglav came in to investigate after the construction workers
stumbled upon the old foundations at the church of St. Martina
in Obišovce, near the eastern Slovakian city of
Košice. The experts
made the unprecedented discovery of the valuable hoard in February.
The coins were hidden in a nondescript ceramic jug that had been
concealed underneath a small flagstone in the original church
floor. The jug was also sealed with a stone.

Most of the coins were minted by
local mining companies, and the earliest one is stamped 1702, when
Slovakia was ruled by Hungary as part of the Habsburg Empire. Some
had come from Poland. The silver coins were individually
wrapped in linen, and were likely collected as donations from
pilgrims.

The archeologist Peter Šimčík,
who worked on the team, was unable to estimate the value of the
hoard to local press, but said that its historical value was
“immense.” The mining stamps were a low-value local currency traded
for basic goods, but Šimčík explained that miners also often used
them as charity. “When they dropped them into the bag, they clinked
like normal coins, and no one could tell what they put in
it,” Šimčík said.

The group of archeologists
explain on their Facebook page that they decided to name the
treasure the “Mono-ocular Treasure” after a partially blind priest
they believe hid the coins. Historical sources from the time relate that a
new Catholic priest, who was Polish and blind in one eye, came
to the church in around 1687. It is believed that this priest stashed the
treasure to keep it safe amid a slew of uprisings against the
Habsburgs during that period.

Reports indicate that the church
was indeed raided and left to ruin in 1705 but the hidden trove
went unnoticed. It was reconstructed in the mid-19th century and
the hoard still wasn’t discovered until this year. 

The treasure has been handed
over to the state as required by Slovakian law when professional
archeologists make a find.

The post Archeologists Have Discovered a Trove of
300-Year-Old Silver Coins Hidden Beneath the Floor of a Renaissance
Church in Slovakia appeared first on artnet News.