The Vancouver Numismatic Society
In August 2024 it was reported that archaeologists working in the buried Italian city of Pompeii had made an astounding discovery. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD a woman and a young man – possibly her slave – sought shelter from the descending rocks and ash in a small room of a villa located in Region IX, Insula [=block] 10. The falling pumice filled the adjoining rooms and doorways, blocking their escape. Finally, a superheated wave of ash and gas, called a “pyroplastic flow,” from the volcano killed them. The boy was found in the corner of the room. The woman’s skeleton was in a fetal position on a wooden bed. Close to her was a cache of coins, evidently carried in a pouch to save them when she fled from the catastrophe. The few gold coins were in remarkable condition, thanks to being hoarded and uncirculated.
The first photo shows the archaeologists at work over the male skeleton. The second picture is of the huddled woman’s remains with some of the gold coins beside her. Two of the gold aurei are illustrated. One shows the bust of the Emperor Vespasian in whose reign Pompeii was destroyed. The other photograph is of the reverse of another gold coin with a seated female figure. Was this a representation of Roma – the city’s guardian – or of Victory? Lacking expertise in this field, I cannot say. The text below her, “COS VI,” refers to Vespasian’s sixth year as Consul, meaning the coin was struck in 76 AD, three years before the destruction of Pompeii. Although these coins will never come on to the market, one can speculate about their commercial value. A gold aureus celebrating the conquest of Britain by the Emperor Claudius, found in Pompeiian suburb in 1895, sold recently for US $22,400.
An ill-fated woman's bag of coins found at Pompeii by Peter N. Moogk