The Shapwick Hoard is a

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 9,262

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum#Numismatics, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction during the Roman Republic, Republic, in the third century BC, through Roman Empire, Imperial ...

found at Shapwick,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD. The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before, and the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Britain.

Discovery, excavation and valuation

The hoard was discovered by cousins Kevin and Martin Elliott, who were amateur

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and ...

ists, in a field at Shapwick. Excavation of the site found that it had been "buried in the corner of a room of a previously unknown Roman building" and, after further excavation and

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the ...

ing, "revealed the room to be part of a courtyard villa". Following a treasure inquest at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, the hoard was declared

treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

and valued at £265,000. Somerset County Museum Services acquired the hoard, with the aid of Somerset County Council, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and other organisations, and it is now displayed at the Museum of Somerset in the grounds of

Taunton Castle Taunton Castle is a castle built to defend the town of Taunton, Somerset, England. It has origins in the Anglo Saxon period and was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone structured castle, which belonged to the Bishops of ...

. An

addendum An addendum or appendix, in general, is an addition required to be made to a document by its author subsequent to its printing or publication. It comes from the gerundive , plural , "that which is to be added", from (, compare with memorandum, ...

to the discovery was filed in the Treasure Annual Report 2000 which added a further 23 coins, valued at £690, also found by Kevin and Martin Elliott.

Items discovered

Notable inclusions in the hoard were 260 coins from the reign of

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

from 31–30 BC, with over half the coins being struck in the reign of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

(193–211). There were also two rare coins not discovered in Britain before depicting Manlia Scantilla, the wife of

Didius Julianus Marcus Didius Julianus (; 29 January 133 – 2 June 193) was Roman emperor from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors. Julianus had a promising political career, governing several provinces, including Dalmatia (Roman province) ...

, an emperor who was murdered four weeks after the coins were struck. Non-Roman coins included were three

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

e and one drachma of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The latest coin struck was in 224 AD, and it is estimated that the hoard as a whole represented ten years' pay for a

Roman legionary The ancient Rome, Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius''; : ''legionarii'') was a citizen soldier of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Republic and ...

Other hoards

Shapwick has been the site of various hoard discoveries over the years, although the 1998 find was by far the largest. * In 1868, fourteen coins from 306–361 were found in the Shapwick

turbary Turbary is the ancient right to cut turf, or peat, for fuel on a particular area of bog. The word may also be used to describe the associated piece of bog or peatland and, by extension, the material extracted from the turbary. Turbary rights, whi ...

and given to Glastonbury Museum in 1948. * Between 1936 and 1938, four hoards were found in close proximity to each other: ** Hoard A: a pewter cup, containing a pottery beaker of 120 mid-fourth to early-fifth century silver

siliqua The siliqua (. siliquas or siliquae) is the modern namegiven without any ancient evidence to confirm the designationto small, thin, Roman silver coins produced in the 4th century and later. When the coins were in circulation, the Latin word wa ...

e, along with a pewter saucer and platter ** Hoard B: a pottery beaker inside a pewter jug containing 125 silver siliquae from the same era as Hoard A ** Hoard C: a pewter canister containing around 1,170 bronze coins from 320–390, mostly of

Valentinianic dynasty The Valentinian dynasty, commonly known as the Valentinianic dynasty, was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth ...

(364–375) ** Hoard D: a bronze cased wooden stave tankard; a pewter bowl with pedestal; a bronze bowl. Estimated late fourth century * In 1978, over 1,000 copper coins from 305–423 were found in a pewter vessel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapwick Hoard Treasure troves in England Treasure troves of Roman Britain History of Somerset Metal detecting finds in England 1998 archaeological discoveries 1998 in England Hoards from Roman Britain

Discovery, excavation and valuation

Items discovered

Other hoards

See also

References