Workers laying pipes in a southern Spanish park have unearthed a 1,300lbs (600kg) trove of Roman coins in what culture officials say is a unique historic discovery.
The Seville Archaeological Museum said the workers came across 19 amphoras containing thousands of unused bronze and silver-coated coins dating from the 3rd and 4th century.
Workers laying pipes in a southern Spanish park have unearthed a 600-kilogram (1,300lb) trove of Roman coins (pictured) in what culture officials say is a unique historic discovery
Museum director Ana Navarro said the discovery Wednesday in the southern town of Tomares outside Seville is unique for Spain and of incalculable value.
Each emperor had his own court, army, and official residences and legal rulings and imperial celebrations took place in both emperors’ names.
Once the find (coins pictured) has been fully investigated the pieces will be put on display in the museum, the department said. The Romans began to conquer Spain in 218 BC and ruled until the 5th century
The Seville Archaeological Museum said construction workers came across 19 amphoras (selection pictured) containing thousands of unused bronze and silver-coated coins dating from the end of the 3rd century
The clay pots, 10 of which were said to be intact (selection pictured), were found just over a metre underground. Museum director Ana Navarro said the coins studied so far bear images of emperors Constantine and Maximian and with a variety of pictorial images on the reverse
The coins (pictured) are believed to have been recently minted at the time they were buried and had probably been stored to pay soldiers or civil servants
His armies may have even beat back the Moors from the southern tip of the country and the strait of Gibraltar.
Pictured are examples of coins from 294 to 295AD, from Maximian’s era, which feature the emperor’s profile
These later coins, struck circa 330AD, commemorate Constantine the Great establishing the city of Constantinople in what was teh ancient city of Byzantium
Constantine united the warring halves of the Roman empire, he also established the ‘New Rome’ in the city of Byzantium, which was renamed to Constantinople.
The overlapping of the two periods marks a tempestuous time in the empire, with tales of treachery.