Restorers at St. Andrew's Church in Eisleben, Germany, announced the discovery of a hoard of 17th-century coins hidden within a statue during restoration work. The treasure, 2,584 coins, was found two years ago but was only disclosed after detailed examinations and documentation were completed.
During the restoration of a sandstone statue in the Gothic church, workers uncovered the coins concealed in a cavity within the leg of the figure. The hoard includes gold and silver coins from the 17th century, along with approximately 800 pennies.
"This is an incredible story," said Ulf Dräger, curator of the State Coin Cabinet of Saxony-Anhalt. "It is hard to believe that the treasure was not discovered earlier," he remarked, according to CafeF.
The treasure consists of four bags containing 816 coins, among them gold coins known as golden angels, ducal gold coins, double gold coins, silver coins such as thalers, half thalers, quarter thalers, and hundreds of pennies. The most valuable gold pieces were wrapped in paper and labeled in a way that indicates the money belongs to the church's treasury.
Dräger explained that the person who hid the treasure placed "the four bags" in a cavity in the leg of the sandstone statue, which is part of a lamentation of a countess and count, according to Newsbomb.
Experts believe the treasure was hidden around 1640 during the tumultuous period of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), a time marked by religious, political, and commercial conflicts. Swedish soldiers frequently plundered the region, including Eisleben, leading local residents to face hardships, including accommodating and feeding the troops and paying them large sums of money.
"Eisleben lost about half of its population between 1628 and 1650," said an expert, according to Oxuaz.
"At this moment, I can only say that it is a huge treasure. It is more than the amount that a craftsman could earn in a year," Dräger stated, according to Danas.
To put the treasure in context, Dräger noted, "A successful 17th-century miner in the area earned about 1 thaler, or 24 pennies, every week. In that period, 0.45 kg of butter cost about 3 pennies. Two herring fish cost 2 pennies."
St. Andrew's Church holds historical significance as the place where Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer who wrote the "Ninety-Five Theses" against corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, delivered his last four sermons in 1546. About a hundred years later, someone used the church as a safe refuge to hide their stash, believed to be during the Thirty Years' War.
Historians suggest that since 1561, a common church fund had been established in Eisleben to serve as a pension and medical fund for priests and theologians. They consider that the fund discovered by the restorers in the church could be this very fund.
Dräger also explained, "But these are not charitable donations; they are income obtained from the special services of the priests—weddings, baptisms, and funerals," according to Danas. He added, "Also, a seat fee was collected for people to sit in prominent places in the church," as reported by Oxuaz.
A detailed examination and documentation of the coins are planned, and coin experts will assess the value of the treasure, which is considered a large fortune for that period. The finds are to be presented in the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.