The Lava Treasure: aurei and gold multiples of Gallienus AD 262, Claudius II Gothicus, Quintillus, & Aurelian AD 272, Corsica, France

 

gold coins and other gold items, jewellery, dish, statuette

At least one aureus of Marcia Otacilia Severa, wife of Philip the Arab, whilst much earlier, was part of the hoard, two plain gold rings, a large gold dish set with a medallion (recovered, but without the medallion), and a gold statuette of a winged child holding an oyster (some 30 cm high). The pillagers also boasted of finding gold coins of Nero and Hadrian.

Only one gold medallion or 'multiple solidus' (or aureus) of Claudius Gothicus was known before the pillaging of the Lava shipwreck, without the handshake, and all others are believed by France to have come from this Treasure. They also believe that most multiples of Gallienus and Aurelian on the market from 1956 onwards were from Lava. The gold coins of Quintillus are unique to this hoard.

A little more about the coins in 2010 from here.

In 2024 a French court again found two looters guilty, and the coins and medals sold as from the "Trésor de Corse" aka "Corsica hoard" aka "Mediterranean Sea hoard" are being actively pursued by several French law enforcement agencies.

 Julius Placidianus