The Numismatic Evidence

The numismatic material is of great interest, as it represents by far the largest find from Ephesos so far. The five gold coins (published by Schindel and Schwaiger in 2025) can be compared to a single Byzantine solidus from the older excavations. The hoard of copper coins is almost three times larger than a similar find from Sardes, which has given Foss the idea to postulate a Sasanian incursion in the context of the wars between Heraclius and the Sasanian king Khusro II. While the absence of similar clear evidence from Ephesos has been used as an argument against Foss' hypothesis, the new material in fact strongly supports it.