A pot of gold worth millions of dollars has just been found buried deep under a theater in northern Italy.
According to CNN, hundreds of gold coins in soap jars dating back to the period of the last Roman emperor – the 5th century – were unearthed in the basement of the Cressoni theater in Como, north of Milan.
“We do not yet know the details of the historical and cultural significance of the artifacts found,” Italian Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli said in a press release. “But the area is a real treasure trove for archaeology. A proud discovery.”
The coins were discovered last week and have been sent to the Mibac restoration laboratory for verification, according to the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Culture.
Hundreds of gold coins are kept inside.
Although Italian authorities have not released the value of the coins found, local media reports suggest the pot of gold could be worth millions of dollars.
The Cressoni Theater opened in 1807, was later converted into a cinema, and closed in 1997. Local officials had planned to demolish the structure and build a luxury residential complex. However, after the discovery of the pot of gold, Italian officials ordered a halt to construction to support excavation work, in case more ancient treasures were buried underground.
In 2016, archaeologists unearthed a rare 2,000-year-old Roman gold coin in Jerusalem. The coin featured the face of Emperor Nero, the most famous Roman emperor. The coin was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte during an archaeological dig at Mount Zion, south of the Old City of Jerusalem.
That same year, a team of archaeologists unearthed 10 ancient Roman and Ottoman coins from the ruins of a castle in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
