Archaeologists have uncovered a 700-year-old silver coin in the village of Rusokastro in southeast Bulgaria that features a seated Jesus on one side and a portrait of the Serbian king Stefan Uro II Milutin (reigned 1282–1321) next to Saint Stephen, a martyr who was beheaded for his faith, on the other.
Rusokastro was the location of a fort during Milutin’s rule, when the Serbian ruler considerably expanded his realm in southeast Europe. According to a report from Live Science, the representation of the seated Jesus was probably meant to evoke Venetian silver coins of the time, one of the most reliable currencies in the mediaeval world, and to impart similar stability to the Serbian king’s coinage as well.
Excavators claim that this coin, which is often found further west, has never before been discovered in eastern Bulgaria. It illustrates the growth of the Kingdom of Serbia during the era when Milutin was one of the most illustrious kings in Europe and the wealth of the kingdom depended on regional silver mining. Visit “A Dutiful Roman Soldier” to learn more about the life and death of a Roman soldier stationed in Bulgaria in the first century A.D.
