A Romanian man who unearthed 47,000 15th century silver Turkish coins buried in a forest has donated his discovery, the largest find of its type in Romania and valued at EUR 500,000, to a museum.

Iulian Enache, 34, found the hidden treasure in the wilderness near the city of Ramnicu Valcea with the help of a metal detector he had recently bought.

The 54-kilo treasury, which was buried 30 centimeters in the ground, is worth some EUR 0.5 million at current market prices.

However Enache, who is passionate about archaeology, donated his discovery to the History Museum in Bucharest, without asking for anything in return.

The museum's experts have confirmed the coins were issued in the 15th century by the Ottoman Empire.

Director of the History Museum Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu said the discovery was the largest silver treasury ever found in Romania.

“It is the biggest treasury recovered by a public institution in Romania, not only in the last 20 years, but in the last 100 years,” he said.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: The National History Museum on Facebook)