In 1966 the Fishpool Hoard of 1,237 15th century gold coins, four rings and four other pieces of jewellery, and two lengths of gold chainThe Fishpool hoard
. British Museum was discovered by workmen on a building site near present-day Cambourne Gardens, in

Ravenshead Ravenshead is a village and civil parish in the Gedling district of Nottinghamshire, England.OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000): It borders Papplewick, Newstead Abbey and Blidworth, and is part of Nottinghamshire's Hidden Valleys ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England, an area that was then known as "Fishpool". It is the largest

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of medieval coins ever found in Britain. To judge from the dates of the coins, the hoard was probably buried in haste at some time between winter 1463 and summer 1464, perhaps by someone fleeing south after the

Battle of Hexham The Battle of Hexham, 15 May 1464, marked the end of significant Lancastrian resistance in the north of England during the early part of the reign of Edward IV. The battle was fought near the town of Hexham in Northumberland. John Neville ...

in May 1464, in the first stages of England's civil war between aristocratic factions, the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

. The Fishpool Hoard, on display in Room 40 in the British Museum,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was listed in 2003 among '' Our Top Ten Treasures'', a special episode of

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

series ''

Meet the Ancestors ''Meet the Ancestors'' (later ''Ancestors'') is a BBC Television documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series o ...

'' that profiled the ten most important treasures ever unearthed in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

as voted by a panel of experts from the British Museum. The British Museum assesses the face value of the hoard when deposited, about £400, would be equivalent to around £300,000 today. The makeup of the coinage, as well as dating the hoard, showed that the light coinage of 1412 did not eliminate earlier gold coins. Among the coins were detected some nearly contemporary gold-plated

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

coins from the reign of Henry VI (1422–61). Fishpool Hoard jewel

The jewellery is all in gold, with several items set with gems or using enamel. Apart from the four rings there are three

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

s and a heart-shaped brooch, which like some other items is inscribed with an "amatory phrase", in this case "''je suys vostre sans de partier''" (I am yours wholly). One of the pendants is a tiny enamelled padlock, inscribed "''de tout''" on one side and "''mon cuer''" on the other (of all ... my heart). The

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...

gem on one ring was reputed to have protective powers for the wearer against drowning, poison and riding accidents. The rings are thought to be English, but other items may be made in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

.Jewellery from the Fishpool hoard
British Museum

Notes

{{reflist Treasure troves in England Medieval European objects in the British Museum Gold objects Hoards of jewellery 1966 archaeological discoveries Medieval European metalwork objects Treasure troves of Medieval Europe

See also

Notes