A huge hoard of Roman coins is discovered in Worcestershire – and experts predict it could be worth more than £100,000

Science
By William

By SHIVALI BEST FOR MAILONLINE

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Builders were stunned to come across one of the largest quantities of Roman coins ever found in Britain – worth more than £100,000.

A total of 1,368 Iron Age and Roman period coins, dating back to the reign of Emperor Nero, were unearthed at a building site near Worcester.

Experts say the ‘miraculous’ find is one of the most important discoveries in a century.

Most of the coins are silver denarii, minted in Rome and dating from the time of the Roman Republic in 157 BC. until the reign of Nero between 54-68 AD.

The Worcestershire Conquest Hoard is one of the largest coin hoards from the Roman conquest period and the largest from Nero’s reign ever found in Britain.

It is believed that the coins belonged to a wealthy farmer who supplied the Roman army with grain and livestock.

The hoard was discovered late last year in the Leigh and Bransford area, west of Worcester, and is worth more than £100,000.

Dr. Murray Andrews, lecturer in British archeology at University College London, said: ‘It is the most amazing thing I have seen in the last hundred years.

Builders were stunned to come across one of the largest quantities of Roman coins ever found in Britain – worth more than £100,000.

Most of the coins are silver denarii, minted in Rome and dating from the time of the Roman Republic in 157 BC. until the reign of Nero between 54-68 AD.

The hoard contains a single gold coin that has been identified by experts as an Iron Age stater

A total of 1,368 Iron Age and Roman period coins, dating back to the reign of Emperor Nero, were unearthed at a building site near Worcester.

‘It is an important piece of archaeology.

‘It tells us what happened here 2,000 years ago, when the Malvern Hills may have been the frontier of the Roman Empire.’

The hoard contains a single gold coin that has been identified by experts as an Iron Age stater.

The coin was minted for the local British tribe, the Dobunni, who lived in Worcestershire between 20 and 45 AD.

It is likely that the pot containing the coins was made in one of the pottery kilns at the foot of the Malvern Hills.

It was declared a treasure in June and now Worcestershire Heritage, Art & Museums wants to raise £6,000 so it can be put on display.

Karen May, chairman of Worcestershire County Council’s joint museum committee, said: ‘What a fantastic find and so important for anyone wanting to learn more about the county’s heritage.

‘This is a real Worcestershire treasure, and it should be enjoyed by the people of Worcestershire for generations to come.’

The treasure is the third found in the area in the past 25 years.

In 1999, 434 silver coins and 38 pottery sherds were found near Chaddesley Corbett.

In 2011, two metal detectorists from Redditch found a clay pot full of 3,784 coins on Bredon Hill.

How England spent almost half a millennium under Roman rule

55 BC – Julius Caesar crossed the Channel with about 10,000 soldiers. They landed in Pegwell Bay on the Isle of Thanet and were met by a force of British. Caesar was forced to withdraw.

54 BC -Caesar crossed the Channel again in his second attempt to conquer Britain. He came with 27,000 infantry and cavalry and landed at Deal, but there was no opposition. They marched inland and after hard fighting defeated the British and key tribal leaders surrendered.

Later that year, however, Caesar was forced to return to Gaul to resolve the problems there, and the Romans left.

54 BC – 43 BC – Although there were no Romans present in Britain during these years, their influence increased due to trade links.

43AD – A Roman force of 40,000 led by Aulus Plautius landed in Kent and took the south-east. Emperor Claudius appointed Plautius governor of Britain and returned to Rome.

47AD – Londinium (London) was founded and Britain was declared part of the Roman Empire. Road networks were built throughout the country.

50 AD – The Romans arrived in the south-west and left their mark in the form of a wooden fort on a hill near the River Exe. Decades later, a town named Isca was founded on the site of the fortress.

When the Romans left and the Saxons ruled, all ex-Roman cities were called a ‘ceaster’. this was called ‘Exe ceaster’ and a merger of these eventually created Exeter.

75 – 77 AD – The Romans defeated the last resistant tribes, turning all of Britain Roman. Many Britons began to adopt Roman customs and laws.

122AD – Emperor Hadrian ordered a wall built between England and Scotland to keep out Scottish tribes.

312 AD – Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal throughout the Roman Empire.

228 AD – The Romans were attacked by barbarian tribes and soldiers stationed in the country were recalled to Rome.

410 AD – All Romans were recalled to Rome and Emperor Honorious told the British that they were no longer connected to Rome.

Source: History on the Internet

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