Archaeologists discover a treasure trove of gold coins linked to ancient mercenaries

A team of archaeologists and other researchers have discovered approximately one cache 2,600 year old gold coins that was probably the salary of an unknown mercenary. The gold was stored in a small pot in the ancient Greek city of Notion, located in western Turkey. The gold was discovered by the Concept of Archaeological Project in July 2023, and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has officially authorized the discovery of the coins to be made public this month.

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What are darics?

According to archaeologist Christopher Ratté of the University of Michigan, the coins depict a figure of a kneeling archer. This statue is a characteristic design of the Persian dari–a type of gold coin issued by the Persian Empire. The coins were probably minted in Sardis, about 90 kilometers northeast of Notion. The hoard of coins will provide more data on the timeline and history of the Persian daric.

“The discovery of such a valuable find in a controlled archaeological dig is very rare,” Ratté said this in a statement. “No one ever buries a hoard of coins, especially precious metal coins, without the intention of retrieving them. So only the greatest misfortune can explain the preservation of such a treasure.”

Darics were created from the end of the sixth century BC until the conquest of Alexander the Great Persian Empire in 330 B.C. The design of the coins remained the same with very minor stylistic differences. Researchers have attempted to arrange the coins in chronological order by analyzing these minor stylistic differences. This newly discovered hoard of coins is notable because it is independently dated by other artifacts associated with it.

“This hoard will provide a firm date that can serve as an anchor to help establish the chronology of the (entire series of coins),” Ratté said.

According to the former coin curator of the British Museum and classics historian Andrew Meadows of the University of Oxford the archaeological context for the hoard is likely, “if it can be accurately determined by other means, to allow us to refine the chronology of the Achaemenid gold coinage. This is a spectacular find…of the utmost importance.”

The best preserved remains of the ancient city of Notion date from the city’s Hellenistic period, between the third and first centuries BC. However, the excavation of a large house with a courtyard in the center of the city shows that this was the case probably previously inhabited. Pottery fragments probably dating from the fifth century BC were found in earlier walls incorporated into the house’s foundation. In July 2023, an excavation under part of the courtyard revealed the gold coins, buried in a small pot.

“The treasure was found in the corner of a room in a building buried beneath the Hellenistic house. Presumably it was stored there for safekeeping and for some reason it was never found,” said Ratté. “According to the Greek historian Xenophon, a single daric was equivalent to a soldier’s wages for one month.”

A military city

According to Ratté, darics were found by looters who had little concern for their historical value.

“An archaeological find without contextual information is like a person suffering from amnesia: a person without memories,” says Ratté. “It is still interesting and important, but the loss of knowledge is incalculable.”

With this particular treasure, archaeologists and historians know exactly where it was found, so they have a lot of circumstantial evidence for when the treasure was deposited and what was going on at the time.

The city of Notion was incorporated into the Persian Empire together with the other Greek cities on the west coast of Turkey in the mid-sixth century BC. It was finally liberated from Persian rule in the early fifth century BC. However, it was reintegrated into the Persian Empire in the early fourth century BCE, where it remained until the conquest of Alexander the Great in 334 BCE.

Military operations around the city have often been noted by ancient historians. During the fifth century BCE, Notion was under Athenian rule, despite being freed from the Persians. The Greek historian Thucydides documented the dramatic and conflicting loyalties of the residents of Notion and nearby towns. This area covered a border area between the Persian and Athenian spheres of influence.

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Thucydides related that between 430 B.C. and 427 BCE a group of Persian sympathizers from the city of Colophon had occupied part of Notion with the help of Greek and ‘barbarian’ mercenaries. An Athenian general called Paches killed the pro-Persian mercenaries, after trapping their commander in 247 BCE. Persian sympathizers were eventually expelled and the city of Notion was reorganized under Athenian supervision.

These types of events could have caused this hoard of coins to be dumped and lost, but it is not the only possibility. In 406 BCE, a decisive naval battle was fought off the coast of Notion during the conflict between Athens and Sparta. The city was an Athenian naval base at the time. During the The Revolt of the Great SatrapsIn the 360s B.C. several governors in Western Anatolia became embroiled in a new conflict, and the port of Notion became an important military asset. The port was probably fortified during this period. The accepted chronology of Persian coinage would favor a fourth-century BC date for the Notion treasure.

The coins themselves are now being studied and cared for by the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus in Turkey. Researchers are currently excavating new parts of the city that could provide further clarity on the archaeological context of the coins.