Thousands of 17th century silver coins found buried in Teutonic Knights’ church

Archaeologists from the University of Gdańsk were working in the presbytery of the 14th century Church of the Saint Andrew the Apostle in the town of Barczewo in Poland’s northern province of Warmia, when they discovered a glazed ceramic mug handle filled with nearly 1,000 coins.

Coins were also scattered around the vessel.

The coins are silver and were struck for the Polish royal crown and bear the image of King Sigismund III Vasa’s long reign (1587-1632).  

The find is made up mainly of lower denomination Polish coins, and includes groschens, 1.5 groschens, as well as 3 and 6 groschen coins. 

The haul includes many Prussian shillings struck for Prince George Wilhelm Hohenzollern, who was a fief of the Republic of Poland, as well as Lithuanian coins.

Dr. Koperkiewicz, the archaeologist leading the work, believes that the treasure was placed under the floor in the chancel of the church by the monks themselves.