'Jackpot' of 2,000 early-medieval coins discovered by hiker in Czech Republic

A woman who was hiking in the Czech Republic discovered a "jackpot": a hoard of more than 2,000 medieval silver coins that experts describe as one of the greatest finds of the past decade.

The coins were discovered near the town of Kutná Hora, about 35 miles (60 kilometers) east of Prague. They were originally buried in a pottery jar, but only the bottom has survived plowing, according to a translated statement from the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. 

The coins are medieval denarii — medieval versions of the denarius, the standard silver coin minted during the Roman Empire. 

Lenka Mazačová, director of the Czech Museum of Silver in Kutná Hora, said in the statement that the coins were probably made at a mint in Prague, from silver that had been imported into the region, then known as Bohemia.

The medieval silver coins also contain small amounts of copper, lead and other metals, and experts hope they can use the coins' composition to determine the origin of the silver.

Related: Bronze Age gold belt with 'cosmological' designs unearthed in Czech beet field

Political unrest 

Archaeologists think the coins may have been hidden during a time of crisis.