source: Oasen
St Patrick’s Day was just a few short days ago and, while everyone else was busy wearing green and justifying the massive amounts of alcohol they were consuming, employees of Netherlands based Oasen, a utility company, were busy finding an actual pot of gold. Okay, so they didn’t find the gold exactly on St. Patrick’s Day, but they did earlier this year.
According to Oesen’s press release, the employees were excavating to prepare to lay some water lines when they discovered a literally pot full of valuable coins. In total 474 coins were contained within the pot, with 12 of them being gold and the 462 others being silver. The pot itself is believed to be a simple cooking pot from around the 14th century.
Immediately after finding the coins, the on-site employees reported the discovery to their supervisor, who then notified the Meldpunt Archeologie van Landschap Erfgoed Utrecht, the company stated. That organization photographs and registers archeological finds in the area.
Many of the coins were stuck together and had turned a green color after being in the ground for so long. After the coins undergo a cleaning process, the De Nederlandsche Bank will be conducting an investigation to find out more about how old the coins are and where they could have come from.
source: Oasen
LiveScience reported that most of the coins dated back to the late 1400s and “have imagery depicting King Henry VI of England (and the disputed king of France), Pope Paul II, and David of Burgundy, who was bishop of Utrecht.”
After the coins are appraised and studied, the coins will be returned to their owners, which is a combination of Oasen and the people who own the land, according to the Dutch broadcasting foundation, NOS.
This story reminded us of a story we shared in 2016, when construction workers in Spain uncovered 1,300 pounds of Roman era coins, coated in bronze and silver. You can check out that full story by clicking here.
Full story: Real-Life Pot o' Gold Discovered During Dutch Construction Project | LiveScience
Strange things are found on job sites across the globe all the time. We’ve shared plenty of stories in the past about the odd things construction workers have discovered, like human remains, 200,000 year old mammoth bones, ancient roman treasure, and more. When contractors dig in the dirt, there’s always a chance of uncovering history. Sometimes, though, the things found can be extremely dangerous.