A certified metal detectorist scanning a field near Leipzig, Germany, discovered the oldest coin ever discovered in Saxony. The 2,200-year-old gold coin known as the “Rainbow Cup” is a rare example of imported Celtic currency.
“Gold coins are a tangible part of our country’s history and offer new insights into trade with the Celts,” Saxony state minister Barbara Klebsch said in a translated statement on October 27.
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The Celtic Rainbow Cup is named after the German word “Regenbogenschusselchen,” meaning “little rainbow finger bowl,” for its curved shape and the superstition that treasure is found where the rainbow touches the ground, the statement said. They were created by the ancient Celts, a fierce warrior tribe who lived in mainland Europe and later sacked Rome.
The front of the Gundorf Rainbow Cup depicts a stylized head of a stag or similar animal, while the back shows an open neck ring thickened at each end (probably a Celtic torque or torque), a rounded star, and a sphere.
Saxony archaeologist Regina Smolnik said in a statement that the 2-gram (0.7-ounce) coin, which weighs about the same as a U.S. dime, was in “nearly new condition” and was unlikely to have been in circulation as currency. “Rather, it was likely a status symbol or store of value belonging to an upper class of people who had trade relations with the Celts,” Smolnik said.
Several rainbow cups were recently discovered in Germany, depicting trade relations between Celts and Germanic-speaking peoples before the Roman invasion.
In 2021, archaeologists discovered a cache of 41 plain rainbow cups in the northeastern German state of Brandenburg. These coins, minted in the 1st century BC, are also thought to have been sourced through trade, as the Celts did not live in Brandenburg. And in 2023, archaeologists in the German state of Bavaria announced that they had discovered a single rainbow-colored cup with an unusual four-pointed star decoration on the inside. This may have been lost by someone traveling on a nearby ancient road.
Smolnik said that although the Gundorf Rainbow Cup was just a single coin, its discovery in Saxony, along with other examples of coins from around Germany, provided “further evidence of regular contact and connections” between Celts and people living in Saxony more than 2,000 years ago.
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