Tag: numismatics

The Poole Hoard (part 4)

Posted on by Vanessa Oakden
The Poole Hoard on display at Congleton Museum

The Poole Hoard is made up of 1496 Roman nummi, 5 debased radiates and a few fragments of pottery. The hoard was found in 2016 and excavated by archaeologists from the Museum of Liverpool alongside the local FLO.

You can find out about the discovery in our first blog of the series The Poole Hoard 2016 T325.

Our second blog, The Poole Hoard Continued (part 2) and our third blog Martinian and Fausta emerge from the Poole Hoard (part 3) – we really need to work on our catchy blog titles! – focuses on the work of the conservation department at the British Museum.

The Poole Hoard and the Cheshire Hoards side by side at Congleton Museum

The Hoard was jointly acquired by the Museum of Liverpool and Congleton Museum. Along with the Cheshire Hoards which were previously acquired jointly by the two museums, the Poole Hoard is a touring hoard which moves between several local museums. To find out where it is up to now contact the archaeology team at the Museum of Liverpool.

At the Museum of Liverpool we are hosting #MuseumFutures trainee, Abbie Brennan, as part of a British Museum partnership project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). You can read more about Abbie’s work in her Museum Futures blog. Abbie along with a number of volunteers have been doing some fantastic work photographing and cataloguing the Poole Hoard. Abbie was then able to help put the hoard on display alongside the Museum of Liverpool’s Curator of Archaeology and the Historic Environment, Liz Stewart, at Congleton Museum.

MOL.208.75.276 Obverse: Fausta, Reverse: Fausta (as Salus) cradling her two sons- Constantine II and Constantinus II, Minted in Trier – Photographed & edited by Abbie Brennan

Museum Futures trainee Abbie Brennan helping to install the coin hoard at Congleton Museum

The Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) runs a Finds Day every three months from 10.30-15.30 at Congleton Museum so you have the perfect excuse to drop in, check out the hoards and record your finds! Contact FLO Heather Beeton for details of the upcoming finds days.

The Pool Hoard continued (part 2)

Posted on by Vanessa Oakden

As the Poole Hoard, Treasure case 2016 T325, undergoes conservation at the British Museum some issues have been coming to light. Soft patches of copper alloy due to the corrosive soil conditions have resulted in pitting on some coins. Here you can see that Roma has lost her nose and Licinius II is having difficulties with his vision!

A nummus of the House of Constantine, VRBS ROMA reverse depicting wolf and twins. Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.
A nummus of the House of Constantine, VRBS ROMA reverse depicting wolf and twins. Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.

A nummus of Licinius II, VIRTVS EXERCITVS, reverse type depicting two prisoners seated under standard. Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.
A nummus of Licinius II, VIRTVS EXERCITVS, reverse type depicting two prisoners seated under standard. Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.

On the flip side (literally) the reverse of this Licinius II coin has very good preservation in places, with the folds in the captives’ trousers, the ties binding the right hand figure and other details visible. Much of the detail on the coins from the Poole Hoard survives however active care is being taken by the British Museum’s conservators in order to ensure that it is not lost.

A nummus of Crispus (AD317-326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.
A nummus of Crispus (AD317-326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.

 

A nummus of Crispus (AD317-326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.
A nummus of Crispus (AD317-326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.

Investigating the Poole hoard and seeing lots of different coins of the same type at once gives us the opportunity to study the changing faces. Here we have two coins of Crispus both wearing laureate crowns with neat short hair but facing different directions. In one Crispus holds a shield while on the other coin the emperor’s cuirass is clearly visible.

Easy to spot changes on coins bearing female busts, are changes in hair style. Here we have two similar styles displaying subtle changes in fashion. As well as their monetary use coins were also were used as political propaganda conveying a message in a quick and visible form to the people from their rulers. Likewise fashion such as the hairstyles chosen for the coins would have influenced the fashion of the day.

Flavia Maxima Fausta (289–326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.
Flavia Maxima Fausta (289–326). Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum. License: Attribution License.

The Acton Hoard

Posted on by Vanessa Oakden

The Acton Hoard LVPL-15E376. Copyright: Portable Antiquities Scheme. Licence: CC-BY.

The Acton Hoard was found at Acton, near Nantwich, in December 2014 by a local metal detectorist during a rally. It is a lovely little group of five silver denarii deposited within a lead cone shaped container with a lead disc stopper. The coins are all of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, dated AD 194–8. The hoard is Treasure Case 2014 T966 and is recorded on the PAS website as LVPL-15E376.

The coins were all sitting within the lead container which was closed up using the lead alloy disc when they were discovered. Once the disc/stopper was removed the coins were discovered in fantastic condition. The container had not only protected the coins from abrasion which usually occurs when objects move around in the plough soil but the lead alloy container also prevented the silver coins from deteriorating due to a chemical reaction which occurs between silver and lead.

The container appears to have been made especially to hold the coins and this unusual method of concealment suggests that the hoard was deposited ritually rather than as a small pot of money that it was intended to recover. The hoard has been declared Treasure and was selected to go on display at the British Museum as part of the exhibition Hoards the hidden history of ancient Britain. The exhibition is free and runs until 22 May 2016. The Acton Hoard has been acquired by Nantwich Museum and will be returned to Cheshire following the exhibition.

The Acton Hoard LVPL-15E376. Copyright: Portable Antiquities Scheme. Licence: CC-BY.

  • The Acton Hoard LVPL-15E376. Copyright: Portable Antiquities Scheme. Licence: CC-BY.

The Buerton Sundial Hoard

Posted on by Vanessa Oakden

One of the most exciting finds from Cheshire in 2015 comes from the parish of Buerton. It is this fantastic wooden sundial found with a lovely hoard of silver coins of Elizabeth I and one of Mary.

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The hoard consists of one silver groat of Mary, (1553-1554) and eleven silver coins of Elizabeth I, (1558-1603). These include three sixpence, four groats, three threepences and one halfgroat and fragments of wood. The coins themselves are a great find but the finder did a fantastic job in spotting this tiny bit of wood and bringing it in. At first we thought it was just a tree root so imagine our excitement when we realised it is a rare sundial probably made in Nuremburg.

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The three fragments of wood when placed together form a sub-rectangular object. In the centre is a carved circular pit with a central hole for a pin and the walls are stepped to accommodate a brass ring and then a sheet of glass. Between the two halves at the break below the pit is a possible circular pin hole. This would have tethered the string gnomon which also attached to the raised lid and cast the shadow which allowed the user to tell the time. Radiating engraved lines would have held the magnetic compass. A double circular engraved border around the central recess, is divided by diagonal grooves, which form the hour lines, six of which are visible. The Roman numerals IX and X are visible just above 9.00 and 10.00 of the dial. Above and to the left of the X is an engraved small circular sun formed of eight radiating lines representing the sun’s rays projecting from the central circle.

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The full record can be found at LVPL-08F250. A fantastic find which could have so easily been missed.