The unusually low level of the River Danube has yielded some rather unexpected and important discoveries, gold coins and weapons from a time gone by.
The treasures were unveiled to the public on Wednesday after being found in Érd. The Ferenczy Museum Center from Szentendre has invited people to view the area and plans an exhibition.
Gábor Gulyás, director of the Ferenczy Museum, said that an amateur archaeologist found the treasures with a metal detector.
Reports state that at first he found a bell with the figure of St. George and then later many more artefacts were found including 2,000 gold coins. He came to the conclusion that there must have been a shipwreck there at one time.
Some of the coins found can be traced to the Vatican, from Pope Clement XII, Zurich and Dutch ducat. There are 22-carat Hungarian gold coins from the XVII-XVIII century, silver coins and French coins from Louis XIV. Iron objects, weapons, bells, ship parts, daggers and cannonballs have also been discovered.
The museum plans to showcase the findings in an exhibition. Gulyás said the objects need to be restored, so the exhibition won’t be organized before 2020.
The low water levels have brought several other lost items to the surface. In Budafok, a car emerged from the water along with shipwrecks and two American bombs. Artillery tools were also found in Budapest near the Liberty Bridge.