The treasure of Nowa Huta – Pleszów

The treasure was discovered in 1961 during rescue and research excavations carried out by the Nowa Huta branch of our Museum on the multicultural site Pleszów 49. A part of the deposit was in a clay vessel near a concentration of ceramics dated 10th/11th and 11th century.

The treasure consists of: a vessel (dated 10th/11th-13th century), 129 fragments of ornaments, coins and their fragments, altogether: 341 so-called “flans” of cast silver and 8 pieces of lead, and, above all, coins – 320 whole and 288 fragments. They were produced in Arabian, Danish, English, German, Polish and Czech mints, and single coins were produced in an Italian and a Hungarian mint. The oldest issuances in the treasure are fragments of Semanid dirhams dated to the 9th and 10th centuries, and the newest of Bretislav I, which date the entire deposit (minted in 1037-1055; they can be probably linked to the invasion in 1038).

Particular attention should be given to the coins of the first Piasts – 5 denarii attributed to Bolesław the Brave and denarii of Mieszko II in the number of 1+1. The presence of Polish coins is unusual for deposits from this period in Lesser Poland.