Recently, West Berkshire has been able to acquire a very nice 17th – 18th century silver seal matrix for the collection. The item was found in the parish of Woolhampton in 2019 and declared treasure. This seal matrix has the image of a dove holding an olive branch, a recognised symbol of peace. The handle …more
Category: Periods
Sweet Child O’ Mine – Roman Putti Figurines
Late last year I tweeted a Roman putto (child) figurine that was brought in for recording. The statue is in the form of a chubby and naked winged boy, a putto, seated with his arm outstretched and bent at the elbows. His right hand is broken and his left arm is holding a ball. The boy’s …more
Finds of the Month – February 2021
It was getting to the point recently that I didn’t think I would have much for Finds of the Month. However, very recently some rather interesting things landed in my inbox which I’ll be seeing once museums reopen. The first is, what would have been in its day, a very decorative Millefiori stud, dated to …more
Autocorrect Fail – Spelling Mistakes on Coins
With the 50th anniversary of decimalisation and hundreds of millions of coins made over the millennia, I thought I would look at one particular element; die errors. More specifically, spelling mistakes. There is no real rhyme or reason to them, they are not that uncommon, but they do catch the eye and can confuse when …more
Museum Musings – February 2021
This month for Museum Musings I’ll be looking at S-shaped fasteners, also known as ‘snake buckles.’ The one below was declared treasure in 2009 and subsequently acquired by West Berkshire museum. The buckle, or strap fitting as we record them, consists of the heads and necks of two snakes curved and joined together to form an …more
Keep it secret, keep it safe – Roman seal boxes
One of my favourite Roman objects is seal boxes. Colin Andrews (2012) research demonstrated that these boxes were more likely to seal up bags rather than writing tablets, as was previously thought. There are a couple of examples from Berkshire. The first is the top of a lozenge shaped box. The top is decorated with …more
Finds of the Month – January 2021
With the current lockdown restrictions metal detecting hasn’t been allowed this month. However, I have still been receiving finds from pre-lockdown and here are a few I have recorded this month. First up is the featured find from last week. A Silver-plated contemporary copy of a denarius of Septimius Severus (AD193 – 211). There was …more
Septimius Severus and the case of RIC321
This week I recorded a coin that I have not seen before and the denarius at this time has an interesting story. The coin in question is one issued during the reign of Septimius Severus (AD193 – 211). The coin is as follows: Silver-plated contemporary copy of a denarius of Septimius Severus (AD193 – 211) …more
Museum Musings – January 2021
This is first in a new series about PAS finds in the West Berkshire Museum. From time to time finds submitted to the PAS are acquired by museums either through the treasure process, temporary loans or donations. Running until October 2022 the museum currently has a hoards exhibition on display, some of which were found …more
Finds of the Month – December 2020
This new series will detail my Top 10 finds recorded each month. Here are those from December. First up is this Republican Denarius of L Cassius Longinus minted in 78BC (BERK-1037DC). On one side is the head of a young Bacchus or Liber while on the other is the head of Libera (Proserpina) left. It …more
