Coin found at Hadrian Wall…

Hello,

I have a request from someone on this site. I was planning on taking a trip to Hadrian’s Wall. Health concerns dictate that the journey be put on hold. So..Does anyone know where I can purchase a coin found at the Wall……I am afraid that will have to do for now.

Rich

 

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My guess is that anything actually found "at the Wall" would be considered archaeologically significant and probably not for sale (legally, that is). I'm sure the gift shops offer lots of souvenir copies.

Apparently the Roman baths at Bath used to sell genuine Roman coins. I've picked up two of them on eBay over the years, one a very nice Severus Alexander denarius, the other a cruddy Septimius Severus fourree. Guessing from the packaging, I'd say these are not recently-purchased souvenirs.

Whether these were actually found at Bath, I am not sure, although a lot of coins have been found there (pitching pennies into a fountain was a custom back then too).

 

All archeological finds in Great Britain are supposed to be turned over to the National Trust. If they are not rare, or needed for a museum, they are generally given back to the detectorist that made the find. I wonder if there is a list, showing these finds?

 

https://finds.org.uk/

Not that you can buy anything from here…

 

Portable Antiquities Scheme is a good database of coin finds and findspots.

The problem with a Hadrian's Wall coin... it's so easy to claim anything. Unless you saw them dig it out of the ground, I would not trust anybody's word on it.

 

All information I knew I was going to get. Just thought there might be a chance someone might know of a coin found near Hadrian’s wall. If you were on vacation, casually strolling along Hadrian’s Wall and came upon a coin, would you not keep it? Or would you go to the closest museum that has thousands of these coins and gleefully give it to them?

 

I'm sure you're aware of this already, but there's a book on coins found at Vindolanda. It may provide at least some insight. Presumably of the thousands of coins found there, some were sold off. However, proving that provenance is probably tricky.

 

It depends. Typically I would keep it, unless its gold. The danger comes with getting caught at the airport for illegal smuggling.

In Cambodia, I found on the grounds of a ruin a baseball-sized architectural element. I could have easily taken it in my pack, but getting caught at customs with no documentation could have been disastrous.

 

Could you talk yourself into a coin of Hadrian or Septimius Severus that no one claims was found at the wall but, in truth, probably has about the same chance as one sold in the gift shop? Hadrian made the unforgivable sin of not issuing a coin showing his wall so we would just have to settle for something that dates appropriately. Septimius Severus repaired the wall and issued coins referencing Britain which would seem as good a souvenir as what a gift shop would package in bulk.


Don't do anything that in any way encourages people to pilfer archeological sites. We have enough people who would love to see the private ownership of all coins made illegal so all can be placed in museum basements or melted down to pay the light bill. Don't give them ammunition. There are millions of coins found in farmers' fields far from any recognized sites. Talk yourself into one of them.

 

Doug, I do not mean an organized hunt with detectors etc. just a coin you find on the ground. I knew I would hear about this post in a way I did not to, but certainly no digging or detectors. You just see it on the ground. Really a dumb post on my part so sorry.

 

You are more willing than I that there are not people trying to entrap tourists by salting the place with coins to find. The laws about picking flowers or picking up a rock provide income to some authorities in some places. While I suggest obeying such laws in your own home country, I particularly suggest it when travelling to tourist areas.

 

It's really a good post, and I don't fault you for an honest question.
There are lots of coins that are sold as part of a named hoard, (ie "Cunetio Hoard," etc), which have known findspots that you can point to directly on a map.

Perhaps one could search the Portable Antiquities Scheme for named hoards near the Wall, and then scour auctions/Vcoins for one sold as thus?

 

With Turkey's recent MOUs (and associated restrictions), I wonder if there will be those willing to take their chances à la Billy Hayes (portrayed in the movie "Midnight Express") to smuggle coins?



I guess if doesn't work out, one gets to spend some quality time with Caligula.

 

To be fair.... If I had a $100 bill in hand I would have almost certainly gotten through customs with no issue. However much I wanted that architectural element, I didn't really want to be an international criminal, and definitely didn't feel too good about looting ruins.
Still, it was a neat thing.

 

One man's archaeologist is another man's looter...

"That belongs in a museum!"

 

Hadrian's wall site states metal detecting at the wall and around the buffer zone is not permitted, a guy not long ago was arrested so in other words any coin listed with a Hadrian's wall find is stolen or completely fake provenance.

 

Or done so legally before this law was enacted.

 

1975 I believe? Still, good luck finding ANY coin with an established pre-1975 provenance.

 

While not hard to acquire, I can't endorse supporting night hawks.

When I visited the wall several years ago I brought with me a Hadrian sestertius commemorating his travels around the empire, specifically to Britannia. I made a post about it. Not an impressive coin, certainly, but I liked the idea of bringing a coin to see the depicted emperor’s handiwork. Perhaps something like that might commemorate your future visit?

 

That’s a great idea! I like the concept of reuniting things across time and space.