Two amateur divers cleaning trash from the seabed of Alicante while holidaying off the coast of Spain have uncovered a cache of 1,500-year-old gold Roman coins. Numbering 53 in total, the gold coins are in a ‘perfect state of conservation’ and are dated to the late 4th and early 5th century.
The stash was found by brothers-in-law Luis Lens and César Gimeno, who came across the extraordinary discovery in seven meters (23 feet) of water deep off the coastal town of Xàbia. “I thought I had found what looked like a 10 cent coin. It was in a small hole, like a bottleneck,” Lens was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying.
A Fine State of Preservation
Local experts and the authorities immediately responded to the find. Archaeologists from the University of Alicante and the Spanish Civil Guard Special Underwater Brigade (GEAS), in collaboration with the Town Council of Xàbia, carried out several dives in the area. These resulted in the aforementioned discovery of the coins, along with three copper nails, and deteriorated lead remains which were probably once a sea chest.
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