Amateur detectorist unearths 934 Roman silver coins near Wesseling in Germany

The discovery in Wesseling

In autumn 2025, amateur archaeologist Oliver Riedl surveyed a farm field near Wesseling, located south of Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. His metal detector repeatedly signaled the presence of metal after he uncovered an initial batch of 15 silver coins. Riedl halted his personal excavation and contacted the LVR Office for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments in the Rhineland.

It was clear to me that there was something bigger buried here.

Professional archaeologists dispatched to the site completed a controlled excavation, unearthing 934 Roman silver denarii weighing 3.1 kilograms. Excavation findings included ceramic fragments and traces of straw, indicating that the original owner buried the coins inside a straw-lined ceramic vessel.

Coin origins and chronology

Numismatists determined that the cache represents the largest coin hoard from the reign of Emperor Hadrian discovered in Germany, as well as the fifth largest from this era worldwide. Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire between AD 117 and 138, although the buried coins span nearly three centuries of Roman history. The oldest coin in the collection dates to 148 BC, when consuls Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus and Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus held office during the Roman Republic.

Approximately two-thirds of the denarii date to the first century AD, while the newest coin dates to roughly AD 124 or 125. The individual coins measure between 17 and 20 millimetres in diameter, carrying a fine silver content ranging from 4.5 grams down to 3 grams as minting standards shifted over time. Experts assess that the hoard was deliberately concealed during the second quarter of the second century AD, when the regional territory belonged to the administrative sphere of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

Economic context and legionary income

Archaeologists note that ancient inhabitants routinely buried liquid wealth due to the absence of commercial banking institutions in antiquity. While the raw material value of the 3.1 kilograms of silver amounts to slightly over 6,000 euros today, researchers emphasize the historical data preserved within the assemblage.

A legionary would therefore have had to save all of his disposable income for about six years to amass the Wesseling hoard.

According to LVR scientific advisor Rahel Otte, an ordinary Roman legionary during the second century earned an annual salary of 300 denarii. Military authorities withheld approximately half of that sum to cover provisions, arms, and equipment, leaving 150 denarii in annual disposable earnings. Researchers note that the individual who buried the fortune may have died before recovering the vessel or disclosing its hiding place to others.

Ownership and museum exhibition

Under regional heritage legislation, the 934 denarii are the property of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Oliver Riedl is slated to receive a monetary finder reward from the state government. On 22 September 2026, the LVR-LandesMuseum in Bonn opened the first public exhibition displaying the entire coin collection.

Of course, we can only speculate about the motives, but it's very likely that someone wanted to keep this money safe. After all, banks didn't exist back then.

State archaeologist Erich Classen commended Riedl for immediately alerting heritage authorities rather than excavating the site alone, which enabled the recovery of the complete hoard in its original archaeological context.