Saxony is a land that is rich in coin hoards. In the past, however, such hoards were frequently melted down or divided up. In 1994, in collaboration with the Landesamt für Archäologie, Dresden, the Central Coin Hoard Archive of the Free State of Saxony was established in the Dresden Münzkabinett for the purpose of preserving all coin hoards in a complete state and investigating them.
Ten of the most important and most beautiful hoards, including one which is held in private hands, are being presented in a special exhibition. They will provide an overview of the various stages in the monetary history of Meissen and Saxony: in the Middle Ages the periods of the long-distance trading denar, the regional pfennig and the groschen; in the modern age the period of the thaler.
The “concealed money” indicates the growing importance of monetary transactions; on the one hand, it reflects the abundance of earnings from silver mining and a period of rapid economic growth, but on the other hand it is indicative of the frequent wars and crises. A highlight of the exhibition are the gold coins and medals found in a latrine at Leipzig University. Who did they belong to? How did they come to be in a latrine? This hoard probably consists of the earnings of a wealthy merchant at the Leipzig Fair, which – as stolen property – became “hot goods” and were deposited in such an unusual place.
