Largest Roman coin hoard in Germany discovered near Wesseling

Wesseling, a medium-sized town between Cologne and Bonn, has so far been known primarily as the location of large chemical industry plants, which the A555 motorway passes here. But now there is something else to report about the town with almost 40,000 inhabitants. In the fall of 2025, in a field south of Wesseling, a private detectorist discovered the largest coin hoard ever found in Germany, which is also the fifth largest such hoard from Roman times in the world.

The father of the family, Oliver Riedl, was once again out and about with his metal probe when he suddenly came across an obviously antique silver coin. It didn't stop at just one - he soon had 15 of the small coins in his hands. “It was clear to me that there was something bigger in the ground here,” concluded Riedl – and behaved in an exemplary manner.

In contrast to many other private soil researchers, he immediately informed the responsible office for archaeological monument conservation. In the Rhineland this belongs to the LVR regional association. From there, professional archaeologists set out and got to work. In total they secured no less than 934 Roman denarii.

These are silver coins that usually measure 17 to 20 millimeters (about the same as today's ten cent coin). Depending on the time they were minted, they have a fine silver content of 4.5 to three grams - with a decreasing trend. Together, the hoard of 934 denarii weighs more than three kilograms.

Numismatists have been analyzing the find since it was recovered in autumn 2025; now it has been published. The oldest dated coin dates from 148 BC. BC, when the consuls Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus and Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus held the highest political offices of the Roman Republic. The youngest denarius found dates from the time of the Emperor Hadrian, who reigned from 117 to 138 AD, probably from 124 or 125; So he is around 270 years younger. The majority of the find, around two thirds, dates from the first century AD, i.e. from the early imperial period. In practice, all of these coins had the same purchase value, although the silver content decreased over time.

In the 2nd century AD, an ordinary Roman legionnaire, i.e. a professional soldier, received a wage of 300 denarii per year; Officers received correspondingly more. A conversion of purchasing power is practically impossible; However, according to all sources, it was significantly higher than the pure silver value, which is almost 2,000 euros today.

When presenting the find, Erich Claßen, head of the LVR Office for Archaeological Monument Preservation in the Rhineland, said that the find extended over an arable area around 20 meters long. How the coins got into the ground cannot be reconstructed. However, there is probably a connection to a nearby Roman country estate. The most recent coin suggests that the treasure was buried in the second quarter of the 2nd century AD, perhaps around the year 130.

This period in particular, when the “Pax Romana” prevailed, is considered a phase of economic prosperity in the Roman Rhineland. In Cologne (then called Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium), the governor's palace at what was then the Rhine harbor, known as the Praetorium, was extensively renovated and monumentally expanded. South of Wesseling, in the Bonn camp, the Castra Bonnensia, was the Legio I “Minerva”, a particularly strong force that protected the left bank of the Rhine.

It is conceivable that the Wesseling treasure was distributed in the ground by deep motorized plows. Such hoard finds were often made in vessels, for example made of clay or bronze; In Wesseling, the remains of an ordinary ceramic pot that was stuffed with straw were found. However, according to Claßen, it is questionable why the treasure was never recovered: “It is possible that the owner died beforehand without being able to pass on the knowledge of the coins.”

The finder Oliver Riedl behaved in an exemplary manner, emphasized the LVR archaeologist. Probe visits require registration, but this often does not happen. Nor does every private researcher report discoveries they have made. Since the treasury shelf applies in all federal states (most recently in Bavaria since 2023), unauthorized and unannounced probing is prohibited.

Anyone who still makes finds and keeps them is committing robbery. This can be punished as embezzlement according to Section 246 of the Criminal Code and as damage to property that is harmful to the public under Section 304. Robber graves almost always destroy the context that is meaningful to experts, such as discoloration of the earth. Anyone who attempts to sell such illegal finds can also be held responsible for receiving stolen property (Section 260a of the Criminal Code).

“The past belongs to all of us and not to one individual,” emphasized the chairman of the West and South German Association for Antiquity Research, Simon Matzerath, at the public presentation of the find. In Germany there are many thousands of private detectorists who pursue their hobby without appropriate registration and training. However, this involves systematically plundering the cultural heritage found in the ground. It can be assumed that numerous treasures were raised and sold privately.

In recent years, however, valuable discoveries have been made in Germany - some legally, some illegally. In 2013, a then 23-year-old unannounced detectorist came across the “Barbarian Treasure of Rülzheim” in a forest in the southern Palatinate. He took the silver artifacts differently than Riedl; they were later seized during a house search. The consequence was a fine and a year in prison on probation.

The Wessling coin treasure is now the property of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia; This is what the Monument Protection Act provides for. But because the finder, Oliver Riedl, behaved in an exemplary manner, he receives a reward.