4001 Roman Coins Rediscovered After Over 50 Years of Being Lost

Former University of Bordeaux professor Robert Étienne recognized that there were likely more coins to be found and organized a series of systematic excavations at several sites on the river over the next six years.

Coins have continued to turn up in the decades since, donated by individuals and institutions, some even found at private constructions sites trapped in sand from the Garonne that was being used as aggregate.

One of the museum’s conservators found a coin when he was a child and he donated it so it could join its brethren in the comprehensive exhibition.