Six 13th c. silver coins found in Berlin’s Molkenmarkt

The continuing excavation of Berlin’s oldest square, the Molkenmarkt, has uncovered a rare cache of six 13th century silver coins. The coins were minted by co-ruling Margraves of Brandenburg-Salzwedel Otto IV and Otto V (1260/65-1293)

Five of them are intact one denier coins; the sixth is one half of a denier that was cut down the middle. The obverse side depicts the margrave standing between two domed towers supported by double arches. A crowned eagle is on the reverse.

Dr. Christoph Rauhut, State Conservator and Director of the Berlin State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments : “The coins found are an important testament to the consolidation of medieval Berlin in the 13th century. They can be documented for the first time in Berlin at the Molkenmarkt.”

The Molkenmarkt excavation is the largest urban excavation in Germany and has so far uncovered more than 700,000 artifacts, including 14th century reliquary figurines and a 17th century Japanese short sword. This year’s excavation also uncovered medieval footware  – a leather boot, leather shoe, a woolen stocking — in pristine condition.

The archaeological interventions at Molkenmarkt extend to an average depth of four meters, requiring the excavation of more than 88,000 m³ of “historical” subsoil. The effort is worthwhile: due to the complete surface sealing in the mid-20th century, the archaeological material has been almost entirely preserved, and the range of features and finds spans from the medieval founding of the town to the 20th century. These include – in addition to the “underground” town of the 18th to 20th centuries – a 50-meter-long and up to seven-meter-wide plank road (circa 1230), several fortified ditches from the 13th century, hundreds of wells and latrines (13th–18th centuries) with their corresponding finds, medieval cellar and house remains made of wood, as well as clay dome ovens and forges. Furthermore, several prehistoric, especially Stone Age, areas have been identified.

* This article was originally published here