The Erpelle treasure is being displayed for the first time at the Winckelmann Museum: more than 1,700 silver coins from the 14th century discovered in 1921 in some terracotta vases in the Trieste Karst. Scholar Giulio Carraro of the University of Trieste analyzed the treasure and published the results of his research in the EUT volume "Dobrila Tat. The Treasure of Erpelle 1921."

The exhibition opening Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 5 p.m., at the "J.J. Winckelmann" Museum of Antiquities, with entrance from 15 Via della Cattedrale in Trieste, showcases a valuable find that recently emerged from a museum safe: it is the treasure that, hidden in the early 15th century, was discovered in 1921 in Hrpelje/Erpelle (now in Slovenia, 4 kilometers from the Italian border). 

Consisting of more than five thousand silver coins and a dozen gold coins, the treasure was accidentally found by Giovanni Kolaric, a railway clerk at the Erpelle station, in the summer of 1921 in a sinkhole, stored in some earthenware jars. The discoverer took it to the Museum of Antiquities to sell it and it was handed over to then-director Piero Sticotti.

Forgotten again a few years later, without being published or studied in depth, this little treasure was thought to be lost forever. Unexpectedly, it has now come to light again. Apparently, the treasure was at the time divided into three parts. Now in Trieste there is in fact one third of the total, that is, 1773 silver coins in good condition.

Scholar Giulio Carraro from the University of Trieste was able to analyze it, and his research was recently published in the volume "Dobrila Tat. The Treasure of Erpelle 1921", for the types of EUT - Edizioni Università di Trieste.

The curiosity aroused by the presentation of the volume and the demand to be able to see the treasure led to the exhibition that now opens at the Winckelmann Museum and will remain open until September 29, 2024, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, with free admission from Cathedral Square 1.

Originally composed of more than five thousand gold and silver coins, the Erpelle treasure represents one of the main examples of hoarding related to the work of medieval bandits.

The heterogeneity of currencies represented gives a glimpse of economic and monetary vitality in 14th-century Central and Eastern Europe, offering valuable support for the study of mercantile relations and trade across the Alpine and Balkan areas along the routes that led to the northern Adriatic ports, from which products were then sold throughout Europe.

More than half of the surviving coins are produced by the mint of Venice, a seafaring power booming in the Adriatic. However, there is no shortage of substantial lots of coins from the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the Kingdom of Hungary.

A final curiosity is related to an interesting batch of counterfeit coins, contained in the treasury of Erpelle, which also provided an opportunity to delve into the activities of medieval counterfeiters.

Rediscovered treasure. Bandits and caravans on the Carso in the Middle Ages.
May 10-September 29, 2024
Museum of Antiquities "J.J. Winckelmann"
Cathedral Square 1, Trieste
Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free admission
museowinckelmann@comune.trieste.it
www.museoantichitawinckelmann.it