31 July 1965 Treasure discovered by a digger during the demolition of a house

A stoneware container with silver coins was found in 1965 by a digger in Ostrava. He reported the find honestly. Experts from the local museum were called to the site. The treasure was probably hidden by someone around 1623.

The youngest coin dates from that year. "At that time, Moravian Ostrava had to face, among other war events, the passage of Polish Cossacks. A plague epidemic struck with unprecedented force in 1625. Approximately 500 inhabitants died," said Roman Bertha, historian of the Ostrava Museum.

The coins were discovered by digger A. Mašek and reported everything honestly. Experts from the museum called specialists from the branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Opava to the site. They slowly picked up the pot with 228 coins and carried out careful documentation. Subsequently, the treasure was handed over to colleagues from the Institute of National History in Olomouc for conservation and description. They then returned the treasure to the Municipal Museum in Ostrava.

The depot contained Czech, Moravian and Silesian coins. The oldest coins of the find are the Prague grosz of Vladislav II (1471-1516).

The individual coins come from the Silesian principalities of Lehnice-Břeh, Münsterberg-Olešnice, Nisa, Těšín and Krnov. They also come from the cities of Poland, Lower Austria, the Archbishopric of Bremen, Saxony-Altenburg, Schaumburg, Brunswick-Lüneburg and the Canton of Schafhausen.

The treasure was discovered by the excavator on the route that connects the road across the Ostravice River and leads from the centre of the former town to the Silesian Ostrava Castle. In addition, the Hrabovská and the castle gates were located nearby. According to experts, the place where the depot was located is very interesting.

"Troops passed through the region, military encounters took place here. The local inhabitants could hide their valuables for fear of looting. It was probably for this reason that coins were found hidden in the centre of Ostrava as early as 1965. They could have been hidden by their owner in 1623 during the passage of military units through the town," the historian further revealed.

The treasure was exhibited by the Ostrava Museum two years ago. It was an extensive exhibition that delighted visitors.

Sources: www.denik.cz, www.novinky.cz