A firtosi bizánci éremkincs lelőhelyének azonosítása
Identifying the Treasure Trove of Byzantine Coins Found in Firtos

Summary/Abstract: One afternoon in early July1831, they spread the news in Firtosváralja (Hargita county) that children guarding cattle found coins of gold in István Bálint’s land situated in Firtos, the mount rising above the village. Driven by the gold rush, people from Firtosváralja and the surrounding villages invaded the place, digging for weeks for coins. The news spread and the competent authorities, otherwise very slow, soon conducted an investigation. On August 18th two clerks from Marosvásárhely arrived to find out the number of coins and the persons owning them, for according to the law, the State Treasury was entitled to own one third of these kinds of discoveries. Neither the peasants, nor the clerks were aware of the historical importance of the coins, and therefore did not pay much attention to the coins themselves. Twenty years passed before the Transylvanian historiography paid attention to the importance of the findings. It became evident that the discovery was Transylvania’s largest treasure from the time of the Migration, consisting of 5-6th century Byzantine gold coins, soliduses, and so called tremissises. Meanwhile the historians gave a good account about the coins that were held by the priests, officials and landlords, who had bought them from the peasants,. However, they relied only on secondary, confusing sources regarding the exact place of the findings. This paper describes the findings of the research done by comparing the minutes (Investigatio) of the afore-mentioned investigation with the earliest land records from the Székelyudvarhely Land Office. It also includes results of investigations using a metal detector in the identified area.

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