The Dacian helmet from Coțofenești, that has been recently stolen from a museum in the Netherlands, has a fascinating and twisty story. Revealed by a torrential rain at the roots of a tree, it was taken home by two children. Sold by their father, after the priest told him it was made of gold, it was recovered by the Romanian state.
The helmet was allegedly found in a difficult-to-reach clearing in the Prahova village, almost 100 years ago. It was allegedly noticed at the root of a tree by two children who were grazing their animals. The children did not know what a huge discovery they had made. They played with it and then took it home.
Their parents did not know its value either, until s priest, who visited the family on Epiphany, saw the helmet. He realized it was gold and notified the authorities. After learning that the object was valuable, the children’s father sold it to a merchant for a huge sum for the time.
The Dacian helmet from Coțofenești was stolen four days ago from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands. Four pieces from the museum’s exhibition were stolen: three Dacian bracelets and the helmet. The thieves have not yet been caught.
The Coțofenești Helmet is a Geto-Dacian helmet dating from the first half of the 4th century BC. The helmet was discovered in 1928 in the village of Coțofenești, Poiana Vărbilău commune, Prahova County.
It is a piece of solid gold, almost intact, and weighs 770 grams. Only the upper part of the crown is missing, otherwise, no decorative detail is damaged.
The gold helmet was initially brought to the National Museum of Antiquities in Bucharest and kept there until 1970, being then exhibited at the National Museum of History of Romania, in the treasury hall.
The Coțofenești helmet is dated to around 400 BC. Very likely, the object belonged to a Geto-Dacian king – leader of a local political formation established in the area, around the end of the 5th century, the beginning of the 4th century BCE.
The helmet seen from the side, in its current state (left) and a graphic reconstruction (right) The helmet has a golden cap decorated with seven parallel rows of radiating conical buttons, has on the lower edge a border of dotted spiral lines, which frame four plates covered with reliefs. The one in front represents a pair of staring eyes, with double eyebrows and turned in such a way as to inspire horror. (The same apotropaic motif is also found on other ancient helmets discovered in Romania.)
The one at the back, divided into two registers, depicts in the upper register figures of fantastic people, with snake-shaped legs, and in the lower register fantastic animals chasing each other. The two side plates represent scenes of sacrifice, with priests wearing tiaras on their heads. According to other authors, on the two fixed rectangular cheekpieces, which each have an opening at the base, the same scene of sacrifice is represented: a warrior stabbing a ram.
The parade helmet was made of two pieces of gold sheet, produced by cold hammering, from a natural, unrefined gold ingot, with the composition: Au = 760‰, Ag = 225‰ and Cu = 10‰. The gold sheet used to produce the Coțofenești ceremonial helmet has variable thicknesses. They range from 2.82 mm at the base to only 0.76 mm at the top of the preserved crown.
The main body of the Coțofenești ceremonial helmet has a total height of 24.32 cm, with an internal diameter of 18.42 cm in the middle (in the eye area), 17.6 cm (in the ear area) and only 13.5 cm in the area where the crown breaks, according to Wikipedia.
This incompetent government led to Romania sending original rather than copies. Bunch of incompetents. For the past 35 years Romania is led by incompetent pollies!???