Amongst the materials and layers of silt filling the bell-shaped cistern, whose mouth opens in the Opus signinum of the portico of the Sant'Eulalia late antiquity district, we found some common pottery fragments with some bronze coins oxidised on the inner surface, so abraded that the two sides could not be read and no dating was possible. (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Coins oxidised on money box fragments (photo from Unicity).

One of the interpretation hypotheses leads to reconnecting the fragments to several money boxes (figs. 2-4). This is supported by some hoards for a total of 56 coins datable between the I and V century A.D. It does not seem by chance that those finds were in the cistern, where they could have been stored as protection against theft.

Fig. 2 - Five distinct money box categories: A - glass-shaped; B - from above;C - bell-shaped; D - oil-lamp shaped; E - arc-shaped (from BARATTA 2012, figs. 1-5, pp. 172, 174).

Fig. 3 - . Imperial period example from the Archaeological Museum of Ptoj - Slovenia (http://badwila.net/pottery/salvadanai/index.html).

Fig. 4 - Money box from a silos in the Cathedral of Sassari, XIV cent. (from MARTORELLI). 2007, fig. 147, p. 85).