Overview
- A 13-year-old in Berlin spotted a tiny bronze coin that specialists traced to Ilion (ancient Troy) and dated to about 281–261 B.C., with Athena shown on both sides.
- The coin turned up in a Spandau field long identified as a burial ground, a context where small bronzes often survive because communities reused metal from settlements.
- Petri Berlin is now displaying the find as the first object from Greek antiquity discovered within the city limits to be presented to the public.
- Archaeologists have not determined how the coin traveled so far, with trade routes or movement of people suggested as possibilities that need more evidence.
- The discovery is expected to prompt fresh checks at the Spandau site and could encourage more reporting of chance finds by students and local residents.