A collection of antique coins found by a cleaner from the Bavarian Library
Photo © thelocal.se
Just over 8 years ago, in the State Library of Passau, Lower Bavaria, a collection of ancient coins was found in one of the vaults. They found a full-time cleaner.
Tanya Hels first took the wooden box for the jewelry box. The woman immediately informed the library director Marcus Vennerhold about her find.
After examining the contents, the library director found silver, bronze and brass coins from ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium in boxes. Part of the coins that lay in the box belonged to the era of Napoleon Bonaparte.
According to experts, their total value could reach several million euros. Probably the collection of 172 well-preserved coins belonged to the local bishops.
As the director of the library explained, the owner of the collection could not be established. Coins could be hidden from the authorities in 1803, in an era of secularization, when coins and books kept in monasteries were seized in favor of the state.
