Forty-one “curved” Celtic gold coins from 2,000 years ago were found in the Brandenburg district of northeastern Germany, where Berlin is located. This is the first Celtic gold treasure found in the Brandenburg district. As Live Science reports, the curved coins have a cool name in German, where they are called “rainbow cups.”
The findings were announced and displayed at a press conference by Brandenburg State Minister of Science, Research and Culture, Manja Schüle, together with Brandenburg state archaeologist Professor Dr. Franz Schopper, the numismatist Marjanko Pilekic, and amateur archaeologist and finder of this treasure, Wofgang. Herkt.
Some strangely curved Celtic gold coins, known as “rainbow cups” in German, were unearthed in a field in the Brandenburg district of Germany. (Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum and Monuments Conservation Office)
Celtic Gold Coin Rainbow Cup: Legends and Lucky Charms
Herkt, a volunteer archaeologist at the Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum and Monuments Conservation Office (BLDAM), made the discovery in 2017, near the village of Baitz. This was after he received official permission from the local landowner to search his farm. When Herkt first discovered the Celtic gold vault, he thought he had discovered the top of a small wine bottle. After discovering ten more coins, he reported the discovery to the Brandenburg State Office for the Conservation of Monuments and Archeology (BLDAM), where archaeologists found 30 more coins near the discovery. initial.
Herkt was quoted in a press release by the Brandenburg State Office as saying: “This is an exceptional discovery that you can probably only make once in your life. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to contribute to the study of the country’s history with such a discovery.”
Rainbow cups have the added association of mythological wonder and rural folklore associated with them. According to Marjanko Pilekic, as quoted by Live Science, rainbow cups are found where the rainbow touches the Earth. Pilekic is a numismatist (coin expert) and research assistant at the Coin Cabinet of the Schloss Friedenstein Gotha Foundation in Germany. He is also a doctoral candidate in the archeology of coinage, currency and economics of Antiquities at Goethe University, Frankfurt.
Ms. Pilekic also added that another part of the legend about rainbow cups is that because they fell from the sky, they were considered good luck charms and healing objects. She also dated the minting of coins to between 125 and 30 BC, coinciding with the Late Iron Age, when the La Tene Celtic culture dominated much of Western Europe. La Tene culture flourished in France, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany and the Czech Republic between 450 BC and the Roman invasion and conquest in 1st century BC.
Another view of the strangely curved rainbow goblet Celtic gold coin found in a hoard in Brandenburg. (Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum and Monuments Conservation Office)
Why Brandenburg? The mystery of complex currencies
Incidentally, finds of this nature have been found several times in southern Germany. However, there is no evidence that the Celts lived in Brandenburg or the surrounding area. Thus, the gold coins are further evidence of the extent of the expansion of Celtic trade networks in the late Iron Age before the arrival and conquest of the Romans.
It is noteworthy that these coins are plain and have no notable emblems, busts, images or insignia on them. They were also deposited at the same time because the preservation phase and design remained identical throughout the hoard.
“It is very rare to find gold in Brandenburg, but no one would have expected it to be Celtic gold,” Pilekic said. “This discovery once again expands the distribution of these coins and we will try to find out what this can tell us that we don’t already know or think we know. ”
There is a popular myth that the Celtic people only engaged in bartering and did not use coins. However, this myth stems from the fact that we know very little about the trading practices and monetary system of the Celtic La Tene culture. What we do know is that higher value gold coinage was used more than silver coinage. This partly explains the hoarding of gold coins in Celtic Brandenburg. Only after the Roman conquest of this region of Europe did silver and copper coins become common currency.
The mystery of why Europe’s second-largest hoard of rainbow cups ever was found in an area north of Berlin remains unsolved at this stage. Further research and archaeological evidence are needed to make historically accurate connections. According to the aforementioned press release, the display of the coins at the State Archaeological Museum in Brandenburg is currently being prepared.
