A massive hoard of 1,753 Roman silver coins left behind by the Germanic Vandal tribe fleeing the invading Goths has been found in southeastern Poland.

Excited archaeologists think that the treasure of 1,753 silver coins weighing over five kilos was abandoned in the last stand of the Vandals before fleeing from the arriving Goths at the end of the second century AD when Europe was in upheaval as the Western Roman empire was collapsing.

                                        Looks like a bucket of nickels

The coins were spread out over a field after being churned up by farm equipment. They were spotted by local farmer Mariusz Dyl, who was looking for abandoned antlers.

The coins were not in one place, but were spread by agricultural machines over 100 m. In total, 1,753 coins were discovered.

Local museum director Bartłomiej Bartecki said assessing the value of the find that the average pay for a Roman legionnaire at the time was about 300 dinars.

“You couldn't buy a village for this, but it was not a small amount, especially for barbarian tribes," he said.

Barbarians?  The Vandals, barbarians??  Xenophobe!

The archaeologists believe that the coins were originally placed in a wooden casket or leather pannier. Although the remains of the container have not survived, it is known that it was decorated with silver-plated rivets made of bronze as eight of them were found among the coins.

The coins were dated to the second century as they bear the image of Roman emperors Nerva, who ruled 8 November 30 to 27 January 98, and Septimus Severus, 11 April 145 to 4 February 211.

The area was inhabited by Vandals at the time, who were pushed out by Goths in the great wandering of peoples from Scandinavia to southern Europe at the end of the second century.

Interestingly, eventually, after a lot of wandering around, By 439 the Vandals established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province, and sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Emperor Justinian I's forces reconquered the province for the Eastern Roman Empire.

Vandals taking a moment to sack Rome.  That act alone probably went a long way to replace the coins they left behind in Poland.

Renaissance and early-modern writers characterized the Vandals as barbarians, "sacking and looting" Rome. This led to the use of the term "vandalism" to describe any pointless destruction, particularly the "barbarian" defacing of artwork. 

North Africans today who may be partly descended from the Vandals.