Fanjul believes the coins were hidden by refugees sheltering in the area, saying: "We think it's a reflection of the social and political instability which came along with the fall of Rome and the arrival of groups of barbarians to northern Spain."
Quite poignant to think this was someones lifeline, desparately hidden away until things improved. But things didn't improve and they never made it back to recover them. And now here we are 1,600 years later.
Right. I think about that every time they uncache one of these hoardes. Some guy buried his life savings thinking "I'll come back later", and then something intervened and he never even had the chance to tell someone where it was hidden.
Which is worse, burying your money in the ground or keeping it in your PayPal account?
A hundred years from now, after quantum computing has rendered modern cryptography obsolete, archaeologists will be doing the same with bitcoin wallets.
Quite poignant to think this was someones lifeline, desparately hidden away until things improved. But things didn't improve and they never made it back to recover them. And now here we are 1,600 years later.