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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bart9349, post: 1264417, member: 5682&quot;]Not a bad idea, but, respectfully, Ancient Doug and some others on this forum are a lot more knowledgable than the authors of the book.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s the book:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]137210.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s my very rough draft. Please offer any and all criticisms. (Remember, this is for the non-numismatic site <a href="http://www.unrv.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.unrv.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.unrv.com/</a> . There are NO coin collectors on this site, but there are some eminent historians and authors...and I&#039;m neither. :smile )</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have the privilege of reviewing the book <u>The Frome Hoard</u>.&nbsp; The Frome coin hoard was found by metal detectionist Dave Crisp in a field near Frome in Somerset, England in April 2010.</p><p><br /></p><p>Crisp had been searching in the field because only two days earlier he had found some scattered fourth century silver coins (silaquae) there.&nbsp; About 100 meters away from this scattered hoard, he received an unusual signal on his metal detector and began digging. He got down to about 35 cm (14 in) when he found some coins and the top of a pottery jar.&nbsp; Realizing that this was probably a different intact coin hoard, he immediately covered the site and contacted the authorities.</p><p><br /></p><p>This spectacular find, known as the Frome Hoard, has been the subject of great interest and research. The Frome Hoard is currently located at the British museum, London.&nbsp; Plans are in the works for the hoard to be on display at the new Museum of Somerset.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>This book is a short (48 page), inexpensive ($10), but well-illustrated paperback by the British Museum.&nbsp; It appears to be a promotion for the hoard since “50 [pence] from the sale of every book will go to the appeal fund” for further conservation and study.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Here’s the book description by Amazon.com:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the background of the authors:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Frome Hoard was notable for several things. First, it was extremely large, consisting of 52,503 coins found in a single large ceramic jar 60 cm (24 in) tall and 45 cm (18 in) in diameter. The coins weighed around 160 kg (more than 350 lbs).</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, it consisted of at least 766 coins from Carausius (ruled AD 286-293), a poorly documented usurper of the late third century. (Only 44,245 of the coins (84%) have been identified.) These coins span 40 years (AD 253-293), potentially giving researchers a unique perspective of life in Britain in late third century Rome. Interestingly, more than 50% of the coins were from the earlier Romano-Gallic Empire (AD 260-274) of Postumus, Victorinus, Tetricus, et al. The most numerous coins were from Tetricus I (24%), Victorinus (14%), Gallienus&nbsp; (11%),&nbsp; and Claudius II (10% + 2%) with additional Claudius II posthumous deification coins .&nbsp; No coin of Carausius’s assassin and successor, Allectus was found. This possibly dates the hoard to before AD 293.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Third, Dave Crisp quickly contacted authorities after he found the hoard, allowing for a more comprehensive archaeological assessment of the site.&nbsp; The coins were systematically removed in layers. A large group Carausius coins were found in a middle layer, for example. This gives some suggestion of how the coins were placed in the jar.&nbsp; It was also determined that the pot had been buried with some sort of plant material on the sides, possibly as protection for long term storage.</p><p><br /></p><p>This sort of analysis could have been done since the hoard was undisturbed since burial and was later carefully examined by professionals. Thanks to Crisp, archaeologists have a better opportunity to assess the evidence from the hoard. </p><p><br /></p><p>The size of the pottery jar and the orderly placement of coins in the jar have led researchers to some interesting theories. The book states, “We…suggest that it was most likely that the person or persons who buried this hoard put it in the ground without intending to come back and recover it. The hoard was found in an important agricultural area and is possible that it was a sacrifice made to bring a good harvest, a successful breeding season or even clement weather.” </p><p><br /></p><p>Ritual burial and deposition of metal was common in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The book suggests that this trend continued into the Roman period.&nbsp; The book states that Britain has more coin hoards in proportion to its area than any other province in the Roman Empire.</p><p><br /></p><p>The book also briefly examines other coin hoards in Britain. According to the book, the Frome Hoard is the largest hoard found in a single pottery container.&nbsp; The largest hoard was the Cunetio Hoard found near Marlborough in Wiltshire in 1978. It contained 54,951 coins, slightly larger than the Frome Hoard, but was found in two pots.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, the book briefly touches on Dave Crisp’s initial find of unrelated scattered silver coins two days earlier within 100 meters of the Frome hoard. This hoard consisted of 62 scattered silver coins (siliquae) of the fourth century. This hoard ranged in dates from AD 337 to 394. This hoard included coins from Constantius II, Julian, Magnus Maximus, Theodosius I, Arcadius, and others. The latest dated coins are of Eugenius (AD 392-4).</p><p><br /></p><p>I think there might be one glaring mistake in the book, however:</p><p>&nbsp;“According to one estimate, it is possible that under Victorinus and Tetricus, the [Romano-Gallic] Empire was making around five to six million coins a week.”</p><p><br /></p><p>This is very unlikely. This may have been a typo. It might have been meant to read “around five or six million coins a month or year.” (Even that number seems high.) That is no small difference. This number has been contested at the excellent numismatic site cointalk.com.</p><p><br /></p><p>In summary, the book is a nice introduction to the Frome Hoard, but it is not an in-depth scholarly review for the advanced historian or an expert numismatist. That said, I think it is well done.&nbsp; It is relatively inexpensive ($10) and 50 pence of every book sold goes to the research project.&nbsp; The illustrations in the book are fantastic.</p><p><br /></p><p>I would recommend this book for anyone with a basic interest in Romano-British history or Roman numismatics. Hopefully, a more scholarly study of Frome Hoard will be planned for the future.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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