University of Michigan archaeologist finds hoard of gold coins in Turkey

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A team of researchers led by a University of Michigan archaeologist has found a hoard of gold coins in Turkey that could prove to be a key datapoint in clarifying Persian history.

The coins were found by the Notion Archaeological Project in the ancient Greek city of Notion, about 30 miles south of modern-day Izmir.

U-M archaeologist Christopher Ratté is the director of the project and a professor of ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology. He says the coins were found buried in a small pot and are believed to be from the fifth century B.C.

“The discovery of such a valuable find in a controlled archaeological excavation is very rare,” Ratté said in a university blog post . “No one ever buries a hoard of coins, especially precious medal coins, without intending to retrieve it. So only the gravest misfortune can explain the preservation of such a treasure.”

The gold coins include a figure of a kneeling archer, the known design of the Persian daric , a type of coin issued by the Persian empire. According to Ratté, darics were minted from the sixth century B.C. until the Persian empire was toppled by Alexander the Great in 334 B.C.

Historians have tried to assemble a chronological sequence of darics by comparing the changes in coin styles. Andrew Meadows, the former curator of coins at the British Museum , told the university that this find could go a long way to solidifying that sequence.

“If it can be established accurately by other means, (it would) allow us to fine-tune the chronology of the Achaemenid gold coinage. This is a spectacular find,” Meadows said.

The Notion Archaeological Project first started excavations in 2022. The coins were discovered in July of 2023, but the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has only now given permission to announce the discovery.

Notion is considered one of the best-preserved remains of the Hellenistic period , between the third and first centuries B.C., but other evidence from the excavation found it was likely inhabited earlier than previously thought. Fragments of pottery and other finds date back to the fifth century B.C.

Ratté says the find is also important because many past discoveries of darics have been found by looters who have “no concern for history.”

“An archaeological find without contextual information is like a person suffering from amnesia — a person without memories,” Ratté said. “It is still interesting and important, but the loss of knowledge is incalculable. In the case of this hoard, we know precisely where it was found, and we have a great deal of circumstantial evidence for when it was deposited.”

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