PJ police have managed to recover a unique Roman coin that was stolen from a religious sanctuary in Alijó, Vila Real, Northern Portugal, over 30 years ago in 1985.

The coin was recovered after being put up for sale along with nine other Roman coins at an auction in Madrid, Spain, with a starting price of seven thousands euros. The collection of coins werepart of a haul of 65 coins found in 1985 inside a clay pot unearthed during expansion works at the Nossa Senhora da Piedade Sanctuary in Sanfins do Douro, in Alijó.

Despite the theft having been widely covered in the regional press at the time, the coins were never found, which police now know is because they had been taken straight out of Portugal and soldat a market in Vitória, Spain.

The subsequent sale at auction in Madrid was spotted by an eagle-eyed Portuguese historian and Professor at Porto University, who alerted the police of its catalogue listing. The lot was describedas an "extremely rare Roman coin, a one-of-a-kind Denarius minted during the civil war of the Roman empire in the years 68-69 A.D., known as the year of the four emperors, and with a bidding price ofseven thousand euros".

In turn, the police triggered the necessary mechanisms to bring the ancient coin back to Portugal.

It has now been handed over to an archaeology museum in Braga. In a further twist, the PJ revealed, "unequivocal proof that this Denarius was an integral part of the Alijó treasury was onlypossible thanks to a 1983 study carried out by the aforementioned university professor even before the theft occurred, by comparing photographs taken at the time of the entire set of coins, withphotographs sent by the Spanish police authorities, which allowed the recovery of not only that Denarius, but also nine other coins."

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PJ police recover unique Roman coin stolen over 30 years ago(http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/pj-police-recover-unique-roman-coin-stolen-over-30-years-ago/44573)