A 13-Year-Old Boy Found This Bronze Coin in a Field. It Turned Out to Be the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin
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A 13-year-old boy discovered a bronze coin in a field near Berlin, which turned out to be the first ancient Greek artifact found in the city. The coin, minted in Troy in the third century B.C.E., is believed to have been buried as a gift to the dead. Its discovery raises questions about how it ended up in Germany and highlights the historical interactions between ancient cultures.
- ▪The bronze coin was minted in Troy around the third century B.C.E.
- ▪It features the Greek goddess Athena on both sides.
- ▪The coin is the first ancient Greek artifact discovered in Berlin.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Cool Finds A 13-Year-Old Boy Found This Bronze Coin in a Field. It Turned Out to Be the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin Minted in Troy in the third century B.C.E., the object might have been buried as a gift to the dead. Archaeologists don’t know exactly how it ended up in modern-day Germany Meilan Solly | Senior Associate Digital Editor, History April 28, 2026 ShareCopy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrintAdd as preferred source This ancient Greek coin is now on view in Berlin. © Petri Berlin / Christof Hannemann When a 13-year-old schoolboy discovered a small coin in a field on the outskirts of Berlin, he knew that he’d stumbled onto something special. But it wasn’t until scholars analyzed the object that they realized its true significance.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Smithsonian Magazine.
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