Ancient Celtic coin hoard uncovered beneath former sports field in Thuringia
Archaeologists discovered 11 first-century B.C. Celtic coins at a construction site in Singer Berg, Thuringia, marking the largest such hoard found in the region.
While preparing a former sports field in Singer Berg for a new fire station, Ronny Krause and his team uncovered a rare hoard of 11 Celtic quinarii dating to the first century B.C., the largest such collection ever documented in Thuringia. The Thuringian State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology verified the coins as Prague-type, a type previously identified in only about 80 examples across the region, suggesting a mint once operated near Gotha.
The artifacts were spread across a roughly 19-by-5-foot area, likely displaced by agricultural activity, but the excavation recovered all original items, constituting a closed find. Alongside the Celtic coins, archaeologists found a Roman coin, a medieval glass bead, a knife fragment, another silver coin and a 19th- or 20th-century Prussian uniform button. Officials highlighted the discovery’s value for understanding ancient trade routes and production centers, and stressed the importance of preserving archaeological context against unrecorded metal-detecting finds.
