A huge hoard of Byzantine coins found at the bottom of the Dnieper
An amateur diver found a treasure trove of Byzantine coins at the bottom of the Dnieper near Orsha. These are seven coins from the time of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos — they date to the period between 1092 and 1118.
Screenshot from ONT
Preliminary spectral analysis showed that these coins (scyphates) are made of low-grade bronze, ONT reported. However, the result is inaccurate because the coins have not been cleaned. An isotopic analysis of the coins is planned for the near future.
«This coin should be billon. This means it should consist of copper and silver. But we didn't detect that. Perhaps it oxidized in the water over centuries, and there might be silver there,» said Ivan Spirin, a research fellow at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
Previously, the largest find of Byzantine coins in Belarus was a hoard at the old Kopyl settlement. But the Dnieper treasures could be larger. It is likely there will be other finds in that location. There could be more than one pood (an old unit of weight, about 16 kg) of such coins in the Dnieper, or perhaps even an entire 12th-century vessel, scientists believe.
Andrei Likhachev, head of the diving center «Sea Pegasus», believes this is cargo from a shipwreck.
Comments
A ŭ nas viaduć historyju haradoŭ zbolšaha z 11 st... Nonsense!