The Bunnik Hoard is a Romano-British coin hoard discovered in the village of Bunnik, Netherlands. The hoard consists of 404 coins of Celtic, Roman, and Numidian origin which were deposited in 47 AD. It is notable as the largest hoard found in Utrecht and the first mixed composition hoard found outside of Great Britain. As part of the Limes Germanicus, the Roman Netherlands had a strong Roman military presence and many fortifications. It served as a launch base for the Roman conquest of Britain.
Discovery In Autumn 2023, two metal detectorists, Gert-Jan Messelaar and Reinier Koelink, were combing the fields for a fruit grower's tractor key in Houten, before moving on to neighboring Bunnik, where they had recovered some coins in the past.
The first coin Koelink found was lying on the surface, a Celtic stater, normally only found in Britain. Messelaar thereafter found the rest of the hoard, clumped together in the mud. After disassembling the hoard, the findings were reported to the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. Later excavations added 23 coins to the detectorists' 381, for a total of 404 silver and gold coins, many of which were located less than 30 cm below the surface.
In order to prevent looting, the exact location of the find was left undisclosed to the public. It is known to be around the A12 motorway, far from known Roman fortifications. An in-depth breakdown of the find is set to be published in 2026.
The hoard is currently on display at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, in Leiden as part of the permanent exhibit "The Netherlands in Roman Times".
Content The 404 coins include several Celtic staters, Roman Republican and Imperial currency, and a denarius of Juba I of Numidia (minted in Utica, Tunisia). The Bunnik Hoard is described by the Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project as "the largest Roman coin hoard ever discovered in Utrecht and the first mixed composition hoard found in mainland Europe". The hoard is registered by the University of Oxford's Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire database under ID No. 21255. +Hoard BreakdownReignYearsMintDenominationQuantityJuba I of Numidia60 – 46 BC: king of NumidiaUticaDenarius1Cunobelineabout AD 9 – about 40: king in pre-Roman Britain Stater42Quarter-Stater2Mark AntonyTravelling MintDenarius30Octavian27 BC – AD 14: first Roman emperorTravelling MintDenarius3UnknownDenarius179Julius Caesar49: temporaneous dictator of Rome – 46: annual dictator – 44 BC: dictator perpetuo Denarius12Augustus27 BC – AD 14Aureus22Denarius28Gaius CaesarDenarius2TiberiusAD 14 – 37: Roman emperor LugdunumAureus37Denarius27ClaudiusAD 41 – 54: Roman emperorRomeAureus13Denarius6 The coins of the hoard date between 200 BC and 47 AD. Because this is the date of the youngest coins, the burial of this hoard has been dated to 47 AD.
See also Helmingham Hall Hoard – a Roman hoard date to 47 AD, discovered in Helmingham, Suffolk, United Kingdom between 2019 and 2021. Worcestershire Conquest Hoard – a Roman Conquest era hoard discovered in Worcestershire, United Kingdom in 2023. Chilfrome Hoard - a Roman hoard dating to 47 AD, discovered in Dorset in 2021.
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