Archaeologists in Sweden recently made an unusual discovery. They found 45 ancient Roman silver coins, including two believed to be counterfeits.
The discovery was announced by the Swedish Armed Forces earlier this fall.
The coins were unearthed during archaeological excavations ahead of an expansion of Sweden’s Gotland Regiment military base, according to officials.
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“During one of the excavations, an unusual find was made — a silver treasure with Roman coins from the second century A.D.,” the Swedish Armed Forces said in a translated statement.
The discovery came as archaeologists were wrapping up an excavation of a farmhouse foundation dating to the Migration Period, which spanned roughly the fifth and sixth centuries A.D.
The archaeologists were making “one final sweep with the metal detector” before the discovery, according to officials.
“Then an insistent beeping indicated that something was in the ground near one of the foundation stones,” the statement said.
“They carefully dug a small silver coin out of the soil — and more finds would follow.”
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When archaeologists brushed off the coin, they discovered a stamped portrait of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled from 138 to 161 A.D.
“The metal detector’s persistent beeping indicated that more objects were hidden near the same foundation stone,” officials said.
“Before the workday was over, archaeologists had counted 45 coins and a gold finger ring. All the coins are Roman, minted during the second century for five emperors and four empresses.”
The coins were identified by Lennart Lind, a Swedish expert on Roman coins.
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The coins feature five Roman emperors — Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus — as well as four empresses: Vibia Sabina, Faustina I, Faustina II and Lucilla, according to officials.
Experts believe the coins arrived on Gotland during the fourth century and were used in trade for generations before being buried alongside the gold ring around 450 A.D.
Two of the coins, however, were ancient counterfeits that may have originated in what is now Ukraine, according to archaeologists.
Elsewhere on the military grounds, archaeologists found nine graves believed to be around 2,000 years old, including one containing nearly 10 pounds of burned human bones, according to the release.
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The remains belonged to at least two individuals, including an adult man, officials said.
Archaeologists also discovered bronze fittings believed to have been attached to a sword suspension and a shield.
The coins may have been buried as part of a sacrifice, said Per Widerström, an archaeologist at Gotland Museum.
Widerström told Fox News Digital the silver coins were largely what archaeologists would expect to uncover at such a site, but the gold ring was unusual.
Widerström also said newly received radiocarbon dating results indicated activity at the settlement from the fourth through sixth centuries, consistent with archaeologists’ expectations.
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“Perhaps it was abandoned around 540 when there was a low in human history in this part of the world because of natural disasters from 536 A.D. and on for 10 years,” Widerström said. “Maybe that is the reason behind them leaving the farm.”
The bigger surprise, he said, was the number of buildings identified at the site — six in total, apparently belonging to two neighboring farms.
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“It looks like it was slowly abandoned, and some of the people might even have come back to this place to get more things back to a new settlement,” he said.
The Roman coin hoard is the latest in a series of ancient discoveries in Sweden.
Earlier this year, Swedish archaeologists discovered two rare Bronze Age neck rings believed to be more than 2,500 years old buried inside an ancient grave monument.
Last winter, Swedish officials announced the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved, 5,000-year-old dog skeleton buried alongside a bone dagger near Stockholm.
