BASEL LANDSCAPE, SWITZERLAND—live science reports that a metal detector in northern Switzerland uncovered a nine-inch-tall clay pot containing more than 1,200 Roman coins that alerted Archaeologie Baselland, the canton’s archaeological department. Reto Marti, head of the department, and his colleagues were able to remove the pot in a block of earth and send it for a CT scan, which revealed a piece of cowhide dividing the coins into two piles inside the pot. All coins were minted during the reign of Emperor Constantine (AD 306-337), when the coin treasury once bordered on three Roman possessions. “There are two types of coins in the pot, but the exact denomination of these Late Antique bronze coins is not known,” Marti said. Coins were usually buried in times of need to protect them, Marti explained, but these coins, worth about two months’ salary for a soldier, appear to have been buried between AD 330 and 340 — a time of relative peace and more economic Recreation. The coin stash may have been buried as an offering to the gods or have something to do with the border, he added. Studying the coins will help researchers understand the use of money and the circulation of coins during the reign of Constantine, Marti concluded. To read about a pile of Constantine’s coins found underwater in Caesarea, go to Sun and Moon.