Explorers in Poland have discovered a rare ancient Roman coin with the help of metal detectors, the team announced on Friday.

According to a Facebook post (translated in English) by the Lublin Voivodeship Monuments Preservation Agency (LVCM), a “group of explorers” from the Tarnogrod Regional Association began searching in the spring of 2024 around the Polish town of Krzyżypol.

LVCM wrote that the group, led by Janusz Szabat and Piotr Magoč, discovered “a large number of metallic archaeological monuments” across “several fields,” including many silver coins known as Roman denars. The area they searched was less than one-fifth of a square mile, CBS News reported. report.

Authorities said three of the coins found bear the portrait of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and were minted between 138 and 161. Another coin was found, minted in 141, bearing the portrait of the emperor's wife, Faustina the Minor. A “triumphal coin” bearing Pius and a denar from 174 depicting Marcus Aurelius were also found.

Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius are often referred to as the last two of the Five Good Emperors, who ruled from 138 to 161 AD and 161 to 180 AD, respectively. according to Britannica. Marcus Aurelius is famous I have written Meditations written during his reign as Roman Emperor. (Related: Archaeologists discover ruins of underwater Roman villa)

“The number of these discoveries is staggering,” the post read.

In addition to the genuine coins, authorities said they also found several counterfeit dinars made by the Goths.

The post also said the discovery included part of a silver coin depicting Empress Hellenia Kupressina Etruscila, wife of the Roman Emperor Decius, which is considered “a rather rare coin as it is twice the size of a normal silver coin.”

Decius became Roman emperor in 249, during the crisis of the 3rd century. according to Decius later became notorious for his persecution of Christians, and was defeated by the Goths at the Battle of Abritus, becoming the first Roman emperor to be killed by a foreign enemy.

As well as the coins, the explorers also found “several small silicon tools” and pottery fragments, according to LVCM. It's difficult to establish their dating. Dr. Barbara Niedzabitowska-Wisniewska from the Institute of Archaeology at Maria Curie Skłodowska University believes some of the pottery dates to the Roman period. Other fragments are thought to date back to the Early Middle Ages, ancient Polish times and even modern times.

“The discovered remains will soon be handed over to a museum in Belgrade,” the Facebook post concluded.