Middle schooler finds coin from Troy in Berlin

As a child I was walking down the street and kicked something by chance that sounded metallic. 150 year old coin, irrc. Just there on the asphalt next to the sidewalk.

Unfortunately bronze, with trimmed edges, common mint and worth very little. But if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin in the street just lime that, I pretty much believe it.

I knew vaguely that Troy had many layers of settlement, but I didn't realize that Troy had an extensive life in antiquity that extended into the classical Greek age (Post-Bronze Age) and Early Roman Age. It's funny to think of Roman and Greek Tourists visiting Troy VIII in 300 BC.

> Already in the 5th century BC, Herodotus reports about the ‘Hyperboreans’ (Folks from above the North Wind), and how they regularly visited the island of Delos

Heh, some things never change.

No information about the kid who found it? Did he get some reward for finding it? Does it come from some archeological site around there or some collector just lost it there?

Can't even imagine what it's like to live in Europe. Just casually going on a walk and finding a coin that is over 2 millennia old. Just another Tuesday.

I wonder if there were street vendors selling little replicas of the wooden horse.

Was there anything resembling tourism in 300 BC?

Don't underestimate ancient globalization.

Heck, Inuit had Chinese bronze artifacts [0] well before European contact (basically 4,000 miles).

[0] - https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2016/Q2/old...

I wonder if there were street vendors selling little replicas of the wooden horse.

> Already in the 5th century BC, Herodotus reports about the ‘Hyperboreans’ (Folks from above the North Wind), and how they regularly visited the island of Delos

Heh, some things never change.

As a child I was walking down the street and kicked something by chance that sounded metallic. 150 year old coin, irrc. Just there on the asphalt next to the sidewalk.

Unfortunately bronze, with trimmed edges, common mint and worth very little. But if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin in the street just lime that, I pretty much believe it.

When I was a teenager I was working at McDonalds and someone came in and paid for a meal using old US Silver Certificate bills. Some people just are careless and don't notice old or unusual things.

> if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin...

I found a bill from the Weimar hyperinflation era. Its face value was several billion (Milliarden). Its only value was as a curiosity.

I took my kids to one of those gaming centers (skee ball, claw machines, etc.) and stumbled across a 19th century 50-cent piece in the change machine. It apparently is worth about $150 last time I checked.

The oldest coin in my collection is an 1838 large cent, which my dad says he found as a kid in a crack in the sidewalk. He was born more than 100 years after that date.

Can't even imagine what it's like to live in Europe. Just casually going on a walk and finding a coin that is over 2 millennia old. Just another Tuesday.

No information about the kid who found it? Did he get some reward for finding it? Does it come from some archeological site around there or some collector just lost it there?

Don't underestimate ancient globalization.

Heck, Inuit had Chinese bronze artifacts [0] well before European contact (basically 4,000 miles).

[0] - https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2016/Q2/old...

You can walk around the USA and find flint arrowheads ... not sure the Native Americans used coins as such.

I feel the same way about the US. Can't imagine the vast wilderness you still have. I've never been somewhere truly wild and untouched by man.

Downtown Los Angeles has a pretty famous park and museum with fossils of preserved megafauna that have been extinct for millennia still regularly found just chilling in a bubbling lake of oil. I even worked there 25 years ago.

I found some more information in this other article: https://www.dw.com/en/teen-discovers-first-ancient-greek-art...

""After we understood where it came from, I had the task of figuring out where this coin was found exactly. Fortunately, the boy was very precise and showed me exactly where he found it on a map. Then we went into our findings registration and found that this agricultural site was actually a well-known place," Henker explained.

Berlin'sMuseum for Pre- and Early History has been systematically conducting surveys on empty land in Berlin since the 1950s to determine where possible excavation sites might be.

In this particular spot, explains Henker, the upper layers of the soil were surveyed in the 1950s and 70s and again later. "Every time, they discovered a few distinct finds that made them say 'ok, there's probably more in the ground here'."

Over the years, fragments of ceramics, Slavonic-era knives and a bronze button have been unearthed on the site, as well as burnt human bones, leading researchers to conclude that this are was used as a burial ground dating as far back as the early Iron Age — and has been in use throughout the centuries."

"At first, archaeologists wondered if the coin was a “modern loss”—perhaps dropped by a collector in recent years. However, a professional excavation of the discovery site suggests a much deeper connection.

The field was found to be a multi-layered historical site, containing Bronze Age and Iron Age burial remains, Roman-era artifacts, and even a medieval Slavic knife fitting. This “archaeological context” suggests the coin likely arrived in the region centuries ago, rather than falling out of someone’s pocket last week."

If I get that right, the student somehow managed to find the coin in a field, and after archaeologists started digging and found a whole historical site.

Since the location is a field, I imagine the coin had come to the surface when the farmer was plowing the field, or something like that. Still, why was the student walking in a field? Germans are known for going on walks, but why in a field? Was he or she in the field with the express purpose of trying to find something interesting, maybe even using a metal detector? Or was it a purely accidental find?

Spandau occupies a commanding position on the wide confluence of Spree and Havel river. It is part of the wider river networks and one can easily navigate to Elbe and Danube. The coin might have ended up here via trade.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aFfBzWNgnMiCvdHf6

There's a link in the blog to another source saying he found it in a field that turned out to be an archeological site. A modern collector didn't lose it.

https://greekreporter.com/2026/04/16/ancient-greek-coin-troy...

Back in my day, if you uncovered some priceless historical artifact, the least the newspaper could do is print your friggin' name in the article. Did some nearby archaeology professor already swindle the kid out of the coin and call dibs or something?

Does he get the coin back after the museum is done showing it?

Yeah I really want more information than "on a walk". Really? No digging whatsoever involved? Did they walk past an eroding riverbank or something? I'm so curious.

Was there anything resembling tourism in 300 BC?

"The final layers (Troy VIII–IX) were Greek and Roman cities which served as tourist attractions and religious centers because of their link to mythic tradition."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy

Yes, definitely. There was tourism in Greece in the Classical Period, too. Epidaurus is a good example: a major religious sanctuary, side by side with a theatre and athletics venues, all part of the thriving local economy propped up entirely by tourism. Fun fact: history's first recorded hypochondriac was a frequent patient/visitor at the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus.

There were “pilgrimages”, trade, and extended families. Joseph traveled with his brothers to Egypt long before 300 BC

not only there was, people were still people and we have roman and greek graffiti on monuments ("X was here" and similar).

Alexander the Great visited it in 334 BC: https://greekreporter.com/2025/09/07/alexander-the-great-vis...

Edit: this was also mentioned in the article

That's covered in the article.

no, but in first century bc and after that the roman world was connected enough that rich young romans were doing their version of the grand tour. Cesar managed to be kidnapped by pirates doing something like that, if I remember it correctly.

When I was a teenager I was working at McDonalds and someone came in and paid for a meal using old US Silver Certificate bills. Some people just are careless and don't notice old or unusual things.

I've had that happen a couple times, too. The first time I was super excited, and looked up the collectable price, and it was like $8 for a (pristine) $5 bill. I think I kept it for a few days to show to people, and then spent it. I inherited a couple from my dad last year, and the collectors' price hadn't changed, so I did the same thing. Still cool, though. I hope whatever cashier received them from me got a similar thrill.

I used to see those once or twice a year, now it's been a decade since I've seen even a $2 in the wild.

Wow. I like how those look almost like modern bills except for a cool seal and text saying it's redeemable for silver, subtle flex.

Only time I ever got rare money was a buffalo / Indian head nickel as change in a cafe very recently, not a valuable form though.

not only there was, people were still people and we have roman and greek graffiti on monuments ("X was here" and similar).

"The final layers (Troy VIII–IX) were Greek and Roman cities which served as tourist attractions and religious centers because of their link to mythic tradition."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy

There were “pilgrimages”, trade, and extended families. Joseph traveled with his brothers to Egypt long before 300 BC

> if you tell me someone just stumbles onto and old coin...

I found a bill from the Weimar hyperinflation era. Its face value was several billion (Milliarden). Its only value was as a curiosity.

The oldest coin in my collection is an 1838 large cent, which my dad says he found as a kid in a crack in the sidewalk. He was born more than 100 years after that date.

You can walk around the USA and find flint arrowheads ... not sure the Native Americans used coins as such.

Yeah the wild thing about the southwest is the open-air museum aspect of it, not the layers on layers. For petroglyphs, the southwest has so many that date to the high middles ages (~1100 AD) you can stumble on them by accident as a hiker. AFAIK the oldest in the area are still thought to be these ones[0], about 9000 years ago. (Always controversial to date rocks I guess, but the oldest North American mummy should be easier and is about the same.[1])

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnemucca_Lake [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Cave_mummy#Dating

I grew up in the bed of a drained lake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Portage#:~:text=this%2...), so there were no native American artifacts to be found. The best we could do were the foundations of some homes that had been on sanitary district land but then torn down with the area reverting to forest (sadly, this forested area which was open to exploration when I was a kid has since been fenced off).

Growing up as a kid, we used to find old wagon wheels and arrow heads frequently. There used to be an old fort not far from where my parent's house was located. A limestone creek ran on the back part of their property and defined the property line. We'd find all sorts of artifacts up and down this creek. I even came across a rock with an circular hole that was obviously bored into it and charring around the hole. I used to have some interesting show-n-tells. This was in the 80s.

Old trade beads can sometimes be found, old stashes and caches. Pony beads, seed beads, and others. They were traded/used as "money". The Hudson's Bay Company brought millions of them to this continent.

https://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol2/iss1/6/

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnemucca_Lake [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Cave_mummy#Dating

The southwest has plenty of layers on layers. Tucson is built on a Spanish fort, which is built on native villages on top of yet older native villages going back almost 4,000 years, as one example.

For another example, most neighborhoods in eastern phoenix are built on top of old Hohokam villages, adjoining older basketmaker sites. The canals throughout the city often follow the old Hohokam canals. Fun fact, the Intel Chandler campus is on top of old hohokam suburbs of Pueblo de los muertos, which is buried under the modern suburbs.

The Puebloan culture in the southwest during that time was basically a full fledged civilization. It's insane how underresearched such a culture is despite having built megastructures like within the Grand Chaco Canyon

https://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol2/iss1/6/

I feel the same way about the US. Can't imagine the vast wilderness you still have. I've never been somewhere truly wild and untouched by man.

> truly wild and untouched by man.

In the US you can find truly wild places, but it is pretty hard to find places untouched by man. Humans have been here for at least 15000 years, and from the very beginning were having huge impacts on the ecology.

If I get that right, the student somehow managed to find the coin in a field, and after archaeologists started digging and found a whole historical site.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aFfBzWNgnMiCvdHf6

There's a link in the blog to another source saying he found it in a field that turned out to be an archeological site. A modern collector didn't lose it.

https://greekreporter.com/2026/04/16/ancient-greek-coin-troy...

Yeah I really want more information than "on a walk". Really? No digging whatsoever involved? Did they walk past an eroding riverbank or something? I'm so curious.

I found some more information in this other article: https://www.dw.com/en/teen-discovers-first-ancient-greek-art...

Berlin'sMuseum for Pre- and Early History has been systematically conducting surveys on empty land in Berlin since the 1950s to determine where possible excavation sites might be.

Wow. I like how those look almost like modern bills except for a cool seal and text saying it's redeemable for silver, subtle flex.

Only time I ever got rare money was a buffalo / Indian head nickel as change in a cafe very recently, not a valuable form though.

That's covered in the article.

La Brea tarpits, the essential LA elementary school field trip

the museum is small but excellent; it has a wall covered just in Dire Wolf skulls found there

Does he get the coin back after the museum is done showing it?

"Finders keepers" is a legal principle only common in common law countries. In most of the world, in no way could you be construed to own something just because you found it in the ground.

In most civil law countries, everything always has a legal owner (usually reverting to the state when no other legal owner can be found), and if you just "find" something and take it, you have committed theft. In Germany, the antiquities law is clear that anything of significant historical value belongs to the state, with a monetary reward possible for the finder in some situations (and finding something and not reporting it is a crime). If an old coin is deemed to not be historically significant, it probably belongs to the landowner.

I used to see those once or twice a year, now it's been a decade since I've seen even a $2 in the wild.

Alexander the Great visited it in 334 BC: https://greekreporter.com/2025/09/07/alexander-the-great-vis...

Edit: this was also mentioned in the article

The southwest has plenty of layers on layers. Tucson is built on a Spanish fort, which is built on native villages on top of yet older native villages going back almost 4,000 years, as one example.

> truly wild and untouched by man.

You can get new $2 from your bank

not exactly a tourist :) but the point stands

> no, but in first century bc and after that the roman world was connected enough that rich young romans were doing their version of the grand tour.

So "yes", then.

did they leave behind significant amounts of writing?

the museum is small but excellent; it has a wall covered just in Dire Wolf skulls found there

"Finders keepers" is a legal principle only common in common law countries. In most of the world, in no way could you be construed to own something just because you found it in the ground.

La Brea tarpits, the essential LA elementary school field trip

And well known to fans of Dr Demento. This is the Wikipedia about “Hancock Park” the city park that contains the tar pits and museum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hancock_Park

There is also a district of the city that contains NIMBYs and other fossils, by a similar name.

> no, but in first century bc and after that the roman world was connected enough that rich young romans were doing their version of the grand tour.

So "yes", then.

did they leave behind significant amounts of writing?

Nope. Which is what makes it so difficult. Additionally, adjacent nations like the Navajo, Apache, and others are very tight lipped about their extremely robust ancestral and oral history because of bad experiences along with taboos.

It felt like a mix of rightful wariness due to untrustworthy opportunistic anthropologists from the 19th and 20th century along with taboos that developed due to some sort of collapse.

You can get new $2 from your bank

not exactly a tourist :) but the point stands

And they're still a pain to spend, because too many people refuse to believe they're real money. Or else don't want to take them because there isn't a slot in their cash drawer. I inherited a couple of bundles from my dad last year (he made $2 bills his "thing", much like Woz, because he enjoyed arguing with cashiers), and exchanged them all at the bank for "real money".

I know and do; it's a question if I get one in change or otherwise.

(IIRC some businesses used to give change in $2 to show their "influence" on the area.)

And well known to fans of Dr Demento. This is the Wikipedia about “Hancock Park” the city park that contains the tar pits and museum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hancock_Park

There is also a district of the city that contains NIMBYs and other fossils, by a similar name.

Pico and Sepulveda! Pico and Sepulveda!

The the tar tar pits.

(La Brea means "the tar").

A bit west of downtown, too, but I'm an annoying pedant.