Shapwick Hoard

Coordinates: 51°09′06″N 2°49′26″W / 51.1517°N 2.8238°W / 51.1517; -2.8238

Shapwick Hoard

Coins from the Shapwick Hoard on display at the Museum of Somerset
Material Coins
Size 9,262 coins
Period/culture Romano-British
Discovered Shapwick, Somerset by Kevin and Martin Elliott in September 1998
Present location Somerset County Museum, Taunton
Identification 1998–99 Fig 294.1–9; 2000 Fig 251

The Shapwick Hoard is a hoard of 9,262 Roman coins found at Shapwick, Somerset, England in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD.[1] The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before,[2] and the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Britain.[3][4]

Discovery, excavation and valuation

The hoard was discovered by cousins Kevin and Martin Elliott,[3] who were amateur metal detectorists, 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 surveying, "revealed the room to be part of a courtyard villa".[3]

Following a treasure inquest at Taunton, the hoard was declared treasure 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.[3]

An addendum 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.[4][5]

Items discovered

Notable inclusions in the hoard were 260 coins from the reign of Mark Antony from 31–30 BC, with over half the coins being struck in the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211).[1] There were also two rare coins not discovered in Britain before depicting Manlia Scantilla, the wife of Didius Julianus, an emperor who was murdered four weeks after the coins were struck.[2] Non-Roman coins included were three Lycian drachmae and one drachma of Caesarea in Cappadocia.[1] 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.[3]

Reign Date № of coins
Mark Antony 31 BC 260
Nero 54–68 44
Galba 68–69 12
Otho 69 9
Vitellius 69 30
Vespasian 69–79 548
Titus 79–81 69
Domitian 81–96 21
Nerva 96–98 12
Trajan 98–117 91
Hadrian 117–138 117
Antoninus Pius 138–161 567
Marcus Aurelius 161–180 171
Commodus 180–192 356
Septimius Severus 193–211 5,741
Caracalla 198–217 345
Macrinus 217–218 61
Elagabalus 218–222 688
Severus Alexander 222–235 120

Other hoards

Shapwick has been the site of various hoard discoveries over the years, although the 1998 find was by far the largest.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shapwick Hoard.
  1. 1 2 3 "Table 2". forumancientcoins.com. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Roman Coin Cache Discovered". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ricey, Steven (30 June 2009). "Shapwick Coin Hoard". Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Treasure Annual Report 1998–1999" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2000. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  5. ↑ "Treasure Annual Report 2000" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2001. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Monument no. 194188". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "Monument no. 193944". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  8. ↑ "Monument no. 911618". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
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