As of the end of the 2nd century, the total value of coins in the treasure was significant. It approximately corresponded to the salary of the Roman legionnaire for six months. The treasure from Pratteln became the second largest find of Roman silver after the treasure from Kaiserugst (in antiquity – the military camp and the city of Augusta Raurica). Although the treasure in Kaiseraugst is superior to the current find in total weight (58 kilograms versus one kilogram) and in status items (there were silver dishes and ingots), fewer coins were found in Kaiseraugst – only 187. Other Roman coin treasures were found in Switzerland, but they date back to the 3rd century AD, when the empire was experiencing a severe crisis and the quality of coins decreased significantly. If coins of the II century from Pratteln are made of almost pure silver, then a century later the content of the precious metal in the coins becomes less than three percent.
Pratteln is considered one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland. Although the village itself arose in the XI or XII century around the castle and the monastery, the first settlements in its place appeared already in the Neolithic era. Later there lived the Celts of the Iron Age and the Romans. In Pratteln, the oldest artifact in Switzerland was found – a stone tool about 100 thousand years old. The church of St. Leodegar in the center of the old town of Pratteln was built in the 13th century on the ruins of a Roman villa. Archaeologists note that this villa had a direct view of the mountainside, where the treasure was buried.
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