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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
It always surprises me => ummm, why were a pile of gold coins buried in a field? (it must have been very odd times, eh?)
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4778 Posts |
Quote:
it must have been very odd times, eh?) By the 390s - early 400s AD, Roman authority in Britannia was pretty much at an end and the people living in the province knew it, so naturally some squirreled away their money for the tough times that would follow. Sorry, I just find all this late Roman stuff fascinating...  |
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Fascinating times, yes ... but they were probably fairly terrifying as well!! => dudes carried around swords => and they were very good at using them!! (if you were on the wrong team, times were probably fairly bad!!) ... man, there are not many things that I can imagine that are worse than having your family raped and pillaged ...  Edited by stevex6
10/18/2012 6:30 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
The way todays banks are going it wont be long before the field looks a safer bet.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
It is very fortunate that these were found in Britain.
There is a very good chance in some years from now, that a few or most of them may find their way onto the market, quite legally.
Laws have recently (~ around 5 to 10 years ago), been enacted in quite a few Southern European countries, that require all finds to be 'National treasure', and NOT to be eventually marketed. This has given rise to coins being found and illegally marketed, or by corruption, sold out of 'national treasure'.
Worse still, this has given strong impetus to the production of excellent fakes.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
 ... true enough ... => plus, I bought myself a sword today (just in case things turn weird!!) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1663 Posts |
"What do I do with this?"
Ah, innocence.
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Moderator
Australia
16872 Posts |
Quote:
It always surprises me => ummm, why were a pile of gold coins buried in a field? (it must have been very odd times, eh?) Because 1600 years ago when the coins were buried, it probably wasn't a field. There's no mention in the article of the archaeological context - it probably hasn't been investigated yet. But there are all sorts of possibilities. It may have been buried in a now-vanished forest, next to a now-long-gone tree near a now-long-gone trackway. Or it may have even been buried inside a house, barn or other structure; it's my understanding that gold coin hoards are frequently found buried inside shops and houses. There may be the ruins of a villa or even an entire lost Roman village on that site. Time Team episodes often investigate the archaeological background of hoard sites, to try to find out stuff like this. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
stevex6: Be careful with those swords! They can be quite sharp, and can financially injure you!
By this, I mean I have seen fakes with swords as well.
Sap: That crossed my mind as well. Archaeological sites are usually documented before coins are found near by. A major find in a field quite often gets archaeologists very interested. Poor paying gold mines have been known to be 'salted', to attract the interest of a sucker buyer. The find site for these coins needs to be investigated.
Edited by sel_69l
10/19/2012 10:35 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
I thought it worth linking to a larger image of the hoard where the details of the coins can be seen. Quite a find.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
Were all coins in the group Mediolanum and Arcadius/Honorius? Perhaps this was a straight-from-the-mint bag?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Apparently some were from Ravenna. They cover the Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, Theodosius, Arcadius and Honorius.
Martin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
That really is an excellent find. If I found that hoard I'd have a hard time turning it all in to the authorities. lol
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The report that is attached to the picture seems genuine enough so far, but that needs to be confirmed with a museum investigation report. Maybe that has already been published.
From the pictures presented, the coins themselves look quite OK, but I would love to examine them in the hand with a loupe.
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Posted 10/18/2012 5:28 pm
