{"id":9348,"date":"2026-05-01T19:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/9348\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T19:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:15:09","slug":"photos-rare-greek-coin-dating-to-3rd-century-bc-found-in-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/9348\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: Rare Greek coin dating to 3rd Century BC found in Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A group of Canadian diver found a British ship that may have sunk over 200 years ago while exploring the depths of Lake Ontario. The ship appears to be fully intact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BERLIN\u2013 An ancient Greek coin depicting the goddess Athena was discovered by a 13-year-old student in a field in Germany recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PETRI Berlin, an archaeological<\/a> lab, is a collaboration between the Museum of Prehistory and Early History<\/a> of the National Museums in Berlin and the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments in Berlin, and announced the find.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The lab said it’s the first archaeological find from Greek antiquity found within the city limits of Berlin-Spandau.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Map <\/p>\n

Map showing the origin of the coin and where it was found.<\/p>\n

(Map data from ESRI, edited by Gunnar Nath (LDA). Photos of the coin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum f\u00fcr Vor- und Fr\u00fchgeschichte \/ Ulrike Scheibe \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

The coin is approximately 12 millimeters in diameter, and is made of bronze, PETRI Berlin said. It weighs about 7 grams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It dates to between 281 and 261 BC and was minted at Ilion, otherwise known as the ancient city of Troy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was found by a 13-year-old student in a field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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One side of the coin depicts the head of the goddess Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet. The reverse shows Athena ilias wearing a distinctive headdress, holding a spear in her raised right hand and a spindle in her left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PETRI Berlin said at first, it was unclear if the coin was from an archaeological context or a collector’s item lost in modern day, but after experts examined where it was found, clear evidence arose indicating the area was used as a burial ground for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Ceramic fragments, cremated human remains, and a double-lobed bronze button point to the existence of a burial ground dating to the Bronze Age or Early Iron Age,” the news release from PETRI Berlin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The lab said finds from the Roman Imperial period and a Slavic knife sheath, provided further evidence that the site was used into later eras.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Finds dating back to classical antiquity are generally rare in Berlin,” PETRI Berlin said. “While Roman objects are occasionally\u2014yet regularly\u2014attested, Greek finds have until now been entirely absent.”<\/p>\n

\"Presentation <\/p>\n

Presentation of the ancient Greek coin at PETRI Berlin.<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 PETRI Berlin \/ Christof Hannemann \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

The lab said the coin is a significant science rarity.<\/p>\n

An investigation is ongoing into how the ancient Greek coin made its way into North-Central Europe. The lab said trade connections between the Baltic Sea region and Mediterranean dated back to early antiquity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Display <\/p>\n

Display case of “Current Finds” at PETRI Berlin with the presentation of the Greek coin.<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 PETRI Berlin \/ Christof Hannemann \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

However, it is hypothesized that the coin was more symbolic than of economic function.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coin is on display at PETRI Berlin as of April 15, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of Canadian diver found a British ship that may have sunk over 200 years ago while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2476,18,151,939,91,8933],"class_list":{"0":"post-9348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-archaeology","9":"tag-berlin","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-history","12":"tag-world","13":"tag-world-regions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}