Posted on 10/13/2022 6:15:06 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Three metal detector fans have discovered a Roman hoard worth tens of thousands of pounds while spending the weekend camping in south-west England.
The group were staying in a field near the ancient village of Pewsey, in Wiltshire, when they found the treasure trove a mere six paces from where they had pitched their tent.
Robert Abbott, 53, switched on his device after breakfast one morning and very quickly found something.
At first the computer shop owner from Essex, near London, uncovered only discarded metal tent pegs. But he dug a little deeper and hidden below was a valuable silver Roman coin called a siliqua. It is thought to be about 1,600 years old.
His friends David Allen, 59, a carpenter, and Mick Rae, 63, who works in the dairy industry, sprang into action dug up dozens more of the coins.
By the end of the weekend, they had found 161 piece of silver, including siliqua and miliarense coins dating from 340 to 402 AD.
They stored the loot in their camping washing-up bowl...
The 142 coins are believed to have been buried during the last years of the Roman Empire by people trying to protect their valuables from Saxon raids.
They will go under the hammer at Noonans auction house in Mayfair, London, on May 17, having been discovered in September 2020...
The hoard is expected to sell for between £30,000 ($37,700) and £40,000...
The friends will keep some of their find coins they found and the British Museum, which has studied the coins, will add two of them to its collection.
In recent years, metal detector enthusiasts have made major discoveries in Thetford and Hoxne, in the southern English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, respectively./blockquote>
(Excerpt) Read more at thenationalnews.com ...
A 1,600-year-old Siliqua Lugdunum coin. Three friends have discovered a Roman hoard worth tens of thousands of dollars during a weekend camping trip in rural England. The group were staying in a field near the ancient village of Pewsey, in Wiltshire, when they found the treasure trove six paces from where they had pitched their tent.Noonans via PA
Experience: I found a hoard of 161 Roman coins in one weekend
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jun/03/experience-i-found-a-hoard-of-161-roman-coins-in-one-weekend
Somehow this got missed apparently, never posted.
Obviously, I’m camping in the wrong locations. Could someone provide a map as to where these treasures are located? Maybe I would have better luck if I had a map.
Almost makes one wish the Romans had made it to America.
What a strange depiction on the reverse. I wonder what it means?
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3295687/posts
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2756118/posts?page=9#9
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1304316/posts
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1038045/posts
I’ll add here that the UK show “Detectorists” was amazing.
Interesting related tidbit..."According to The Guinness Book of World Records, a Samian Silver Tetradrachm struck in Zankle (modern-day Messina) in Sicily is the earliest coin with a date. It is dated year 1 (viz 494 BC) in the form of the letter ‘A’ at one end.
A Silver Penning (penny, pfenning, denier, denar) is the earliest Christian Era or AD dated coin. This coin was struck and/or issued by the Bishop of Roskilde, Denmark. This silver coin features a bishop’s hat on the reverse and a crown on the obverse. It includes the legends +ANNO DOMINI on the obverse and the AD date MCCXXXIIII (1234) on the reverse. As the earliest European coin with a date, it is without a doubt, one of the most important pieces in European numismatic history."
Obverse: Crown surrounded by legend.
Lettering: ANNO : DOMINI +
Translation: In the year of our Lord
Reverse: Miter (bishop's hat) surrounded by legend.
Lettering: M : CC : XXX : IIII : +
Translation: 1234
Edge: Smooth.
Comments: This is the oldest known coin type with a Gregorian date. Seven examples are known, with only one in private hands.
Nice find. I dug up some late 1800s, early 1900s coins, including one silver from 1923, and two 18k / 24k gold rings this week, but no hoard yet. It’s been a good year metal detecting for me so far. Tomorrow I’ll be doing it underwater with my scuba diving club.
Yeah, yeah...siliqua and miliarense coins...I think those are mine. Our family has an old tale about having to run from some screaming blue meemies around that time.
Thanks for finding them for us.
Romans abandoned unwanted children in the streets to be devoured by wild animals. Not much better than the Aztecs.
It is a depiction of the goddess Roma (you can see her name on the right edge of the coin) holding a figure of the god, Nike (Victory).
I’m not arguing Roman morals, I was just pointing out that you’re much more likely to find hoards of Roman coins in Europe, than in the United States.
Cool. Agreed.
Was curious too. Apparently, that is Roma, a female deity personifying Rome. In one hand, she’s holding a globe with the goddess Victoria (personifying victory) on it and in the other hand, a scepter/spear.
I hear she was one hot tomato in her time.
-PJ
As a kid in Connecticut the most common summer employment was working tobacco. In a broad left fired I found a 1735 English penny with a deep score mark, probably from a plough, diagonally across the obverse of the coin. It was in pretty bad condition and such coins are pretty common so it wasn’t worth much but it was a neat find thinking it had been in that patch of soil for 230years at that point.
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