“A participant in one of our museum lectures came across the first Celtic coin. He went for a walk in the forest with a metal detector, where he found the first of the twelve gold staters (that’s how the ancient weight unit and gold coin is called, editor’s note),” confirmed Kateřina Blažková, archaeologist of the TGM Museum in Rakovník.
“He immediately informed us of the find, so we professionally examined and secured the site,” added the archaeologist.
Photo: Museum TGM Rakovník
A collection of gold Celtic coins found at Rakovnick.
A real unique
“The coins are worth one, a third, and an eighth of a stater. The smallest one, worth a twenty-fourth of a stater, is only four millimeters in diameter and is truly unique. Its coinage has no known comparison yet. It probably has a peacock on the front and a beautiful bird motif is also on the reverse. In addition, the coins are perfectly preserved, which suggests that they may never have been in circulation,” added the archaeologist, who highlighted the actions of the finder.
“We have been in contact with amateur metal detectors and those interested in history and archeology for almost twenty years. We try to motivate and educate them, so cooperation with many of them works in an exemplary way,” said Blažková.
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Coins are now in the hands of experts for analysis and opinion. They remain inaccessible to the public for now. The find represents another important acquisition for the museum’s collections.
“An expert opinion of the National Museum confirmed that this is a set of unique buoy embankments from our territory from the end of the Middle Latena period. This is the very first archeologically documented mass collection of these coins deliberately stored in our country,” said the director of the museum, Magdalena Elznicová Mikesková, proving the huge cultural-historical value of the find.
Photo: Museum TGM Rakovník
Director of the Cancer Museum Magdalena Elznicová Mikesková (left) and archaeologist Kateřina Blažková with a set of gold Celtic coins.
Before the rare coins can be seen, visitors can view the exhibition The Mystery of Golden Jewels, which has been extended until the end of June. At the same time, the Rákovnice Museum invites you to the 2nd year of the Alice Garrigue Masaryková March. It leads from Prague to Lán and will take place on the weekend of May 4 and 5.
“The march commemorates the legacy of the extraordinary personality Alice Masaryková, the daughter of our first president and the founder of the Czechoslovak Red Cross. 145 years have passed since her birth this year,” pointed out Magdalena Elznicová Mikesková.
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