The Kottayam Coin Hoard refers to a Roman coin hoard, consisting of a cache of aurei discovered in the vicinity of Kottayam, Kerala, India. Discovered by locals in 1847, many of the coins were processed and melted by local jewelers, although surviving specimens were acquired by the Maharaja of Travancore. The surviving specimens, numbering 80-90, with 74 documented aurei are split between the Government Museum, Madras, the The Asiatic Society, and possibly some private collections. The latest coin, an aureus minted by Caracalla, estimates the deposit time sometime between 211-217 AD.
In 1851, in a report called Remarks On Some Lately Discovered Roman Gold Coins, penned by Captain Heber Drury, a cache of Roman aurei, many of which were in uncirculated condition was found in Kannur bearing the image of Augustus, circulating amongst the locals and laborers around the town in 1847. They were traded for anywhere between 1-14 rupees or bartered away for a day's worth of rice. Jewelers and wealthier locals who noted the high purity of the coins melted some of them for jewelry.
Though the exact provenance of the coin deposit was heavily kept secret, further inquiry of the finds traced the discoverers to a Saint Thomas Christian community in Kottayam who were gold panning along the Valapattanam River. While soil was getting cleared away on a small hill along the river, a brass vessel containing the gold coins was discovered, described as "five cooly-loads" worth (which theoretically amounts to 25 lbs of gold, or 8000 aurei).
The surviving coins that were found ultimately went into the collection of Marthanda Varma II and Major General William Cullen of which 80-90 specimens were catalouged. With entry into the Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire database by the University of Oxford, 74 individual specimens are attributed, out of the estimated "hundreds" recovered from the brass vessel and its spillage.
The Kottayam Hoard in addition to other finds along India and Kerala is seen by economists as an attestment to the value of Roman currency in Indo-Roman trade relations, part of a rich array additional finds in the region, ranging from Arab to Chinese coinage. Additional hoards found that attest to Kerala's history as a trading hub were found in cities and towns such as Kannur, Niranam, Eyyal, and Thalassery.