22,000 Roman Coins Discovered

A new hoard of coins has been uncovered by a detectorist.

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/09/treasure-hunter-discovers-hoard-of.html

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I knew that.

That is where I left them

 

Wish the picture was larger, but from what I can see, they look like they should clean up nicely. I'm looking forward to some Seaton Down Hoard coins in my collection.

 

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is very fascinating, allows for much more research by professionals, largely keeps stuff documented and out of the black market. Sure wish they had something similar in Eastern Europe with the Black Sea coins.

I have an Irish halfpenny from 1672 that was found in Shropshire in 2007 and was documented through the PAS as the find was reported because of the unusual aspect of finding an Irish merchants token in rural Shropshire.

I would love to be able to go through these coins one by one to see the different Emperors etc. Several years ago I purchased a hoard of English hammered coins that were likely buried in the mid 1270s as there were the first coins of Edward I in there, but nothing later. The earliest coins dated to the Danish invasions and were apparently still circulating at that late date. Most of the coins were from Canterbury which was nearby to where they were found.

Hoards are fascinating because they clearly demonstrate the circulation patterns of coins - some for several hundred years and great distances from where they were minted.

 

I agree. I bought a hoard through G&M, (small one), of Byzantines obviously deposited at the same time. The Maurice Tiberius' stopped at year 8, and they were basically uncirculated. The older the coins in this group were, the heavier the wear. Almost all were from Antioch, (Theopolis).

 

20,000 coins wow what a huge find. awesome.

 

20,000 is a lot, to be sure. But the Frome Hoard of 2010 had over 52,000!

 

There is a rumor that a hoard of about 400,000 ancient Jewish coins was found about a decade ago, and the US dealer who bought most of it. In medieval times they found over 300,000 gold aureus that were mostly melted down due to lack of collectors.

 

Mat: Great article. Thank you. I like the youtube clip, also:







guy

 

Cool, didnt know there was a video. Thanks for posting it.

 

the second pic in the article expands a bit...those are some nice looking coins. man, I would to just dive into that box.

 

Big more info on the coins, mints, and higher quality photos.

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/32520

 

Thank you for the excellent follow-up article.


guy

 

I never thought about legionary pay in the fourth century.

This statement from the first article got my attention:

Despite the number of coins found, the financial value, however, would not have been great, amounting to four gold coins (solidi) which would have provided the ration of two soldiers for one year or a worker’s pay for two years.

What was the legionaries' pay in the 340's (in nummi or folles)?

I got this quote from wikipedia (not always the most reliable source, of course):

...[T]he stipendium, paid in debased silver denarii, was under Diocletian worth far less than in the 2nd century. It lost its residual value under Constantine and ceased to be paid regularly in mid-4th century.

The soldier's sole substantial disposable income came from the donativa, or cash bonuses handed out periodically by the emperors, as these were paid in gold solidi (which were never debased), or in pure silver. There was a regular donative of 5 solidi every five years of an Augustus reign (i.e. one solidus p.a.) Also, on the accession of a new Augustus, 5 solidi plus a pound of silver (worth 4 solidi, totaling 9 solidi) were paid. The 12 Augusti that ruled the West between 284 and 395 averaged about nine years per reign. Thus the accession donatives would have averaged about 1 solidus p.a. The late soldier's disposable income would thus have averaged at least 2 solidi per annum. It is also possible, but undocumented, that the accession bonus was paid for each Augustus and/or a bonus for each Caesar. The documented income of 2 solidi was only a quarter of the disposable income of a 2nd-century legionary (which was the equivalent of c. 8 solidi). The late soldier's discharge package (which included a small plot of land) was also minuscule compared with a 2nd-century legionary's, worth just a tenth of the latter's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Roman_army

I am sure the inconsistent payment to a poorly supplied military with an already debased fiat coinage did little for the morale of an already overextended army.


guy

 

Wouldn't mind picking through those.

 

You're showin' you age Frank..........

 

yup, as old as Doug

 

More info and images: http://www.rammuseum.org.uk/news/massive-roman-hoard-discovered-in-east-devon

Christian

 

Not before I put it there...

 

Amazing find!