UK treasure hunter finds 52,000 Roman coins

[ray245]

Yahoo! News

LONDON – A treasure hunter has found about 52,500 Roman coins, one of the largest such discoveries ever in Britain, officials said Thursday.

The hoard, which was valued at 3.3 million pounds ($5 million), includes hundreds of coins bearing the image of Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who seized power in Britain and northern France in the late third century and proclaimed himself emperor.

Dave Crisp, a treasure hunter using a metal detector, located the coins in April in a field in southwestern England, according to the Somerset County Council and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The coins were buried in a large jar about a foot (30 centimeters) deep and weighed about 160 kilograms (350 pounds) in all.

Crisp said a "funny signal" from his metal detector prompted him to start digging.

"I put my hand in, pulled out a bit of clay and there was a little radial, a little bronze Roman coin — very, very small, about the size of my fingernail," Crisp said in an interview with the BBC.

He recovered about 20 coins before discovering that they were in a pot, and realized he needed expert help.

"Because Mr. Crisp resisted the temptation to dig up the coins it has allowed archaeologists from Somerset County Council to carefully excavate the pot and its contents, ensuring important evidence about the circumstances of its burial was preserved," said Anna Booth, of Somerset Council.

Somerset Coroner Tony Williams scheduled an inquest Thursday to formally determine whether the find is subject to the Treasure Act, a formal step toward determining a price to be paid by any institution which wishes to acquire the hoard.

The hoard is one of the largest ever found in Britain, and will reveal more about the nation's history in the third century, said Roger Bland, of the British Museum. The find includes more than 760 coins from the reign of Carausius, the Roman naval officer who seized power in 286 and ruled until he was assassinated in 293.

"The late third century A.D. was a time when Britain suffered barbarian invasions, economic crises and civil wars," Bland said.

"Roman rule was finally stabilized when the Emperor Diocletian formed a coalition with the Emperor Maximian, which lasted 20 years. This defeated the separatist regime which had been established in Britain by Carausius.

"This find presents us with an opportunity to put Carausius on the map. School children across the country have been studying Roman Britain for decades, but are never taught about Carausius our lost British emperor."

The discovery of the Roman coins follows last year's discovery of a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins in central England. The so-called Staffordshire Hoard included more than 1,500 objects, mostly made from gold.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a department of the British Museum which deals with treasure finds.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I'd classify this more as "Off topic" then history... Though the historical implications of finding so many coins is immense. 52,000 basically equals 52,000 pictures historians can gleen new information from.

Dates, historical figures, images of cities at the time. Quite a find.

[Thanas]

I'd classify this more as "Off topic" then history...

No, this is history. News about historical discoveries have always been posted here.

Though the historical implications of finding so many coins is immense. 52,000 basically equals 52,000 pictures historians can gleen new information from.

Not likely. Most of them are going to be more of the same. Only the ones about Carausius are really important. I did some research on him - he really is quite the figure.

Dates, historical figures, images of cities at the time. Quite a find.

Images of cities? Where are you getting that from?

[Crossroads Inc.]

Dates, historical figures, images of cities at the time. Quite a find.

Images of cities? Where are you getting that from?

Looking at some of the pics, I could have sworn I saw images one side that looked like buildings. I guess I got over excited assuming what sort of information would be on the coins. A shame most of them are all the same :/

[Twigler]

I'd be very curious to find out why that pot was buried there. The article mentioned the usual religious sacrificial option, but I think that's far too early to say.
Out of curiosity, what would happen with the coins minted by a deposed emperor / king? Would their successor go out of his way to take them out of circulation to erase the memory, or just leave them be?

[Thanas]

I'd be very curious to find out why that pot was buried there. The article mentioned the usual religious sacrificial option, but I think that's far too early to say.

Indeed. May also very well be buried due to Raiders.

Out of curiosity, what would happen with the coins minted by a deposed emperor / king? Would their successor go out of his way to take them out of circulation to erase the memory, or just leave them be?

They's be taken out of circulation, though how effective that would be considering the size of the Empire is another question, which is why we still find usurper coins. The Roman Empire only had a very small bureucracy (less than a single modern government department) so its ability to really interfere with the lives of its citizens was very, very limited.

[Liberty]

My grandfather is very into coin collecting (he has even written a book), and is always excited about finds like this. He has a run of coins of all the emperors, except for three or so that are too rare, and has shown me the entire set, explaining the history of each one, each emperor, etcetera (it took four hours). I attended a coin seminar with him on Roman coins back in 2005, and I actually own a couple (low value) Roman coins. It's fascinating stuff. Makes me want to go to England and play around with a metal detector.

[Thanas]

My grandfather is very into coin collecting (he has even written a book), and is always excited about finds like this. He has a run of coins of all the emperors, except for three or so that are too rare, and has shown me the entire set, explaining the history of each one, each emperor, etcetera (it took four hours).

Cool. I am guessing he mainly collected sesterces and denarii?

I attended a coin seminar with him on Roman coins back in 2005, and I actually own a couple (low value) Roman coins. It's fascinating stuff. Makes me want to go to England and play around with a metal detector.

France is a far better choice for that, as it probably is the region with the most Roman coins buried there.

[Twigler]

I'd be very curious to find out why that pot was buried there. The article mentioned the usual religious sacrificial option, but I think that's far too early to say.

Indeed. May also very well be buried due to Raiders.

that's what my first thought was, hide a big pot of cash under the ground for when things stabilize again (which didn't really happen until after 300AD). Then the person hiding it is forced to flee /drafted in the army and killed / or just killed by raiders and no one knows the pot is there.

Out of curiosity, what would happen with the coins minted by a deposed emperor / king? Would their successor go out of his way to take them out of circulation to erase the memory, or just leave them be?

They's be taken out of circulation, though how effective that would be considering the size of the Empire is another question, which is why we still find usurper coins. The Roman Empire only had a very small bureucracy (less than a single modern government department) so its ability to really interfere with the lives of its citizens was very, very limited.

I guess that's lucky for us now then, because I doubt you'll be able to find even a remotely similar spread of coins of our current countries in 1500 years unless you're lucky enough to dig on the site of a museum.

[Liberty]

My grandfather is very into coin collecting (he has even written a book), and is always excited about finds like this. He has a run of coins of all the emperors, except for three or so that are too rare, and has shown me the entire set, explaining the history of each one, each emperor, etcetera (it took four hours).

Cool. I am guessing he mainly collected sesterces and denarii?

Mainly sesterces. For a few emperors, there weren't sesterces available, so he switched to another coin, like a denarius, just so he'd have the emperor represented.

I attended a coin seminar with him on Roman coins back in 2005, and I actually own a couple (low value) Roman coins. It's fascinating stuff. Makes me want to go to England and play around with a metal detector.

France is a far better choice for that, as it probably is the region with the most Roman coins buried there.

I did not know that. For some reason I only hear about finds in England.

Also, I've heard that the collapse of the Soviet Union has brought more coins to light in the eastern Europe area. Interesting how politics can effect things like that.

[Thanas]

I did not know that. For some reason I only hear about finds in England.

That is due to the fact that most English historians do not speak french, so the whole French literature is closed to them. WHich is a pity, because Gaul is probably the most important province of the western world.

That said, the coin finds there are mostly due to the fact that raiders could raid all the way into Spain once the Rhine frontier was breached and the most usurpers where there as well, which is why a lot of people buried coins there.

Also, I've heard that the collapse of the Soviet Union has brought more coins to light in the eastern Europe area. Interesting how politics can effect things like that.

It is not only coins - it is also a whole lot of other standard archeology. I suspect we will have to rewrite the entire history of the Sarmatians, Gepids etc. in a few years.

[Steel]

I'd be very curious to find out why that pot was buried there. The article mentioned the usual religious sacrificial option, but I think that's far too early to say.

Indeed. May also very well be buried due to Raiders.

that's what my first thought was, hide a big pot of cash under the ground for when things stabilize again (which didn't really happen until after 300AD). Then the person hiding it is forced to flee /drafted in the army and killed / or just killed by raiders and no one knows the pot is there.

This is a bit confusing. Isn't 52,000 coins worth a huge amount of money? I recall one of my latin texts having something about building an aqueduct 'only' costing something like 300,000 sestertii, so 52,000 coins of a mixture of sestertii and denarii would be worth a fortune. Could one individual bury such a large amount of money and then have something random happen to them? Surely they would have the means to protect themselves/flee if they had time to bury this.

Perhaps this was part of someones underground vault?

[Thanas]

This is a bit confusing. Isn't 52,000 coins worth a huge amount of money? I recall one of my latin texts having something about building an aqueduct 'only' costing something like 300,000 sestertii,

That was the old republic sestertius, which was a silver coin. This is the Imperial Sestertius, which is a brass coin of lesser value.

so 52,000 coins of a mixture of sestertii and denarii would be worth a fortune.

Not really. A slave could cost around 2-7000, so this is about the value of around 8-20 slaves. A lot, but not much compared to true riches. For example, rich people could own estates worth several dozens, if not hundred of millions sestertii.

Could one individual bury such a large amount of money and then have something random happen to them? Surely they would have the means to protect themselves/flee if they had time to bury this.

Not really. Burying something takes less than an hour and can be done in a hurry. If you see raiders coming, they usually announce themselves by setting fire to other houses/villagers, which you can see for miles and which gives you a few hours headstart given the movement speed back then.

Perhaps this was part of someones underground vault?

Unlikely, for other places for safekeeping were far safer.

[The Dark]

This is a bit confusing. Isn't 52,000 coins worth a huge amount of money? I recall one of my latin texts having something about building an aqueduct 'only' costing something like 300,000 sestertii, so 52,000 coins of a mixture of sestertii and denarii would be worth a fortune.

To the best of my knowledge, we don't have pay records from that time period, but Duncan-Jones estimated in Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy that during Diocletian's reign a legionary earned about 12,500 denarii per annum.

[Thanas]

This is a bit confusing. Isn't 52,000 coins worth a huge amount of money? I recall one of my latin texts having something about building an aqueduct 'only' costing something like 300,000 sestertii, so 52,000 coins of a mixture of sestertii and denarii would be worth a fortune.

To the best of my knowledge, we don't have pay records from that time period, but Duncan-Jones estimated in Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy that during Diocletian's reign a legionary earned about 12,500 denarii per annum.

We do have pay records, they survive in Papyri from Egypt. And you're numbers are off. The 12500 figure is accepted only for Cohort commanders or centuriones. The average legionnairy earned about 600-1200 a year.

[The Dark]

This is a bit confusing. Isn't 52,000 coins worth a huge amount of money? I recall one of my latin texts having something about building an aqueduct 'only' costing something like 300,000 sestertii, so 52,000 coins of a mixture of sestertii and denarii would be worth a fortune.

To the best of my knowledge, we don't have pay records from that time period, but Duncan-Jones estimated in Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy that during Diocletian's reign a legionary earned about 12,500 denarii per annum.

We do have pay records, they survive in Papyri from Egypt. And you're numbers are off. The 12500 figure is accepted only for Cohort commanders or centuriones. The average legionnairy earned about 600-1200 a year.

Thanks - that time frame isn't one I've looked at extensively, which was why I was relying on Duncan-Jones' work; I knew we had some early Empire records, but wasn't aware of ones from the late third century.

[Thanas]

Most of them are only being found now. Remember that it takes at least five-ten years before new discoveries have a real impact.

And the legionnaire's pay during the third century is really nothing to get excited about. These guys were seriously underpaid to the point that they were often issued grain because their wages did not cover the living costs. This only got better when soldiers became Emperors and having lived through that themselves, started measures to prevent such occurings (for which they got promptly blasted by senate historians for enriching the troops and not caring about anything else).