http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...-Trent-field/story-16128189-detail/story.html MUSEUM officials are considering buying a huge haul of Roman treasure which has been discovered in a Stoke-on-Trent field. Hundreds of coins more than 2,000 years old were found at the undisclosed location. Deb Klemperer Deb Klemperer The solid silver sovereigns – some with immaculately-preserved images of the Roman emperor Hadrian – were discovered by metal detecting enthusiast Scott Heeley. Experts say it is the most exciting discovery in the region since the Staffordshire Hoard, which is the largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Now officials at Hanley's Potteries Museum and Art Gallery must decide whether to buy the 242 coins and put them on public display.
Solid silver Sovereigns? What would Mark Anthony be doing on coins from well over a hundred years after he died? You can probably lay odds that none of the people whose bust are on those coins were frends or or even knew Julius Caesar.
It is common in the popular press to assume that everyone is as ignorant as the experts writing the story. '[FONT=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Silver sovereigns' is a modern upgrade for what the British used to call the 'Penny' on the theory that any British coin name is better than denarius. Take for example the Biblical Tribute Penny when the Bible text even uses the word denarius. Now that the penny has not been silver for a few hundred years it is time to upgrade the denarius to be called a sovereign. Stay tuned for the eventual name change to 'Pound' when inflation reduces that coin to a smaller size. [/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It is quite possible that there would be a coin or two of Antony in a hoard with Hadrian. Antony debased his coins to the point that the bad silver stayed in circulation even after all Republicans were demonetized under Trajan. The great hoard at Reka Devnia contained mostly Nero through Gordian but still had 29 Antony's in its 81,000 denarii. The press would always hype a name brand to make the find seem interesting. Take for example the emphasis placed on the Carausius coins found in the Frome Hoard (52,503 coins) even though the vast majority of the coins were common rulers like Gallienus. Even using the term huge for the hoard is funny considering the size of some of the Super-Duper-Gargantuan groups. You generally can get a laugh whenever the press touches on history. Just remember that when you read about saving a hoard from some evil that you and I are the evils being protected against. If they don't buy the coins for museum display, the finders will be allowed to sell them to private collectors. At least the options are better than some countries where the hoard would have been melted rather than reported. [/FONT]
