site.btaRoman Silver Coins Are Exhibit of the Month at National Archaeological Museum

The hoard was discovered by chance in 1907 in the town of Ihtiman, near Sofia. It consisted of around 2,000 silver Roman coins placed in a pot.

The preserved part of the find that entered the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Sofia consists of 113 silver Roman coins, about 5-6% of the original hoard composition. It includes two different denominations – denarii and antoniniani, of which the former predominate. 

Among the coins in the Archaeological Museum in Sofia, the earliest ones are from the time of Emperor Trajan (98–113), and the latest coins were minted during the reign of Elagabalus (218–222). 

Most probably, the find from Ihtiman refers to the largest group of coin hoards discovered on the territory of Bulgaria, hidden in the years around the middle and the third quarter of the 3rd century as a result of the devastating barbarian invasions that affected the Roman provinces of Mysia and Thracia.

The hoard is part of the temporary exhibition “130 years National archaeological Museum” which is on display in the Temporary Exhibitions Hall of the Museum until February 5, 2023.