Last Tuesday I found a 2,000 year old Roman coin in my backyard

I was just digging a hole for a new fence post in my yard in York, UK, last week. Around 2 feet down, my shovel hit something hard that clinked. I pulled out this small, greenish disk covered in dirt. After carefully washing it, I could see a face and some Latin letters on it. I took it to the local archaeology society on Wednesday and they said it's a bronze coin from around 100 AD, during Emperor Trajan's rule. They were pretty excited and said it might be from a settlement that was there before the Romans built the city walls. Has anyone else ever dug up something old in their garden without planning to?

3 comments

3 Comments

jesse_williams6214d ago

I used to think old relics were just for museums and history buffs, never something that'd turn up in a regular backyard. Finding a 2,000 year old coin near York totally changed my mind on that, makes you wonder what else is buried under our feet.

the_emery14d ago

Mate of mine @jesse_williams62 found a 17th century pipe stem in his dad's flowerbed.

oscar7436d ago

Gotta feel for @jesse_williams62, finding that pipe stem must have been a real kick. Makes you wonder how many little pieces of history are just sitting under our gardens, waiting to be dug up by someone's dad while he's planting petunias. I found an old clay marble in my granddad's backyard once, nothing as old as a 17th century pipe, but it still made me feel connected to someone from way back. It's wild to think that everyday stuff people used hundreds of years ago can just pop up in a flowerbed like that.