Tag: Staffordshire Hoard

Latest Treasure from Staffordshire

Posted on by Teresa Gilmore

Today (Wednesday 8th September) saw five more cases officially declared Treasure. All have been found through responsible metal detecting and have been reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. All cases have significantly increased our archaeological knowledge of life within Staffordshire.

A photo showing three fragments of coins. The top one is part of a Groat of Henry VIII, second coinage. The middle one is part of a groat of Henry VIII's third coinage and the lower one is part of a halfpenny of Henry VIII's second coinage.
2020T108 Three fragments of coins from the reign of Henry VIII, originally part of a larger coin hoard found in 2015.

2020T108 – A small addenda to an earlier coin hoard, 2015T702, found in the Lichfield district. Here we have two pieces of Groats and one piece of a halfpenny, all issued as part of the second coinage of Henry VIII. The earlier hoard consisted both of coins and fragmentary pieces like this one. Including these fragments into the original hoard, the hoard now has a face value of 7s, 4 1/2 d, roughly equivalent to £160 today. At the time, this could have covered 12 days wage for a skilled tradesman or one stone of wool.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery wish to acquire this addenda to the Rugeley coin hoard.

A group photograph showing the more complete coins from the coin hoard 2015T702. All coins visible belong to the reign of Henry VIII.
2015T702, the original Henry VIII coin hoard from the Lichfield area.
A photograph depicting the top, bottom and side photos of the gold sheet 2020T257. The lowest shot shows the front of the gold sheet with six filigree conical spirals.
2020T257 – An incomplete seventh century gold sheet with filigree decoration.

2020T257 – An incomplete gold sheet with filigree decoration, dating to the 7th Century AD, found in the Lichfield district. Gold sheets with filigree scrollwork are typical decorative elements of 7th century Anglo-Saxon metalwork, ornamenting high-status pieces including weapon-hilts. This piece was found c.12 km from the Staffordshire Hoard that consisted of gold, garnet and filigree weapon and helmet fittings and ecclesiastical symbols. Other objects found nearby carrying scroll filigree decoration include a possible tweezer cap from Elford, Staffordshire (2017 T173, WMID-C2969E). Notably, this gold sheet was found near a copper-alloy die stamp with Style II or an interlacing loop decoration, Schlaufenornamentik (LIN-490483). The conical spiral filigree wires are uncommon in early medieval (Anglo-Saxon) filigree with parallels from late Roman, Viking and Irish metalwork including the Tara brooch from Co. Meath (Fern and Whitfield 2019, 160). Fern and Whitfield propose that the conical spirals from the Staffordshire Hoard might be ‘a missing link’ with Irish filigree (Fern and Whitfield 2019, p.166). Perhaps then, this example found in the wider hinterland of the Staffordshire hoard site may also form part of this story.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery wish to acquire this find.

A photograph showing the enamelled exterior of the finger ring and part of the interior inscription (TRY AN[ ])
2020T296 – An enamelled Post Medieval finger ring, bearing the inscription TRY AND TRVS.

2020T296 – A Post medieval finger ring with enamelled cells on the exterior and an inscription on the interior, reading : TRY AND TRVS. The enamel cells are hexagonal in shape, and the surviving enamel is either turquoise or dark blue. No parallel to this inscription has been found on the PAS database. Inscriptions done in capital Roman style letters tend to be of 16th to 17th Centuries date. Italic inscriptions become popular during the mid 17th Centuries.

Tamworth Castle Museum wish to acquire this finger ring.

A group photograph showing the obverses and reverses of the five coins that comprise this Iron Age coin hoard. On the top row are the obverses of the two gold staters, each with a stylised horse. Below that are the obverses of the three silver units, again each with a stylised horse but also the inscription VEP. Beneath those are the reverses of the two gold staters and then the lowest row are the reverses of the three silver units.
2020T576 – Photograph showing the obverses and reverses of most of the Iron Age coin hoard.

2020T576 – This is a lovely little Iron Age coin hoard found within the Lichfield district. It consists of two gold staters and four silver units, all associated with the Corieltavi tribe. This is the third coin hoard retrieved from Staffordshire.
Iron Age coins are also relatively rare single finds in the county, with recorded examples mostly from the North Eastern or Western British Iron Age coinage traditions. The county can therefore be seen as slightly peripheral to the main North Eastern coin producing area (centred around Lincolnshire and surrounding counties), but this is in keeping with the observed distribution pattern of North Eastern coins from hoards.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery wish to acquire this coin hoard.

Photograph showing the obverse and reverse of the penny of Ecgberht of Kent. A single piercing is present in the centre, showing that it has been modified and removed from circulation as a coin.

2020T1043 – A single pierced penny of Ecgberht of Kent, minted in Canterbury, found in South Staffordshire. Ordinarily single silver coins are not considered to be Treasure but as this one has been pierced at the centre, with a notch on the opposing edge, indicating that the coin had been attached to something by tying between the piercing and the edge at that location, turning it into an artefact and removing it from circulation as a coin. This coin is also of note as the first coin Ecgberht of Kent recorded by the PAS. Ecgberht of Kent is recorded in a charter confirmed by Offa of Mercia in 765 AD.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery wish to acquire this modified coin.

Today was the final set of Treasure inquests to be held by Andrew Haigh, Coroner for South Staffordshire, before he retires at the end of October. Enjoy your retirement, we will miss you, Andrew.

Celebrating #Treasure20 in Staffordshire

Posted on by Victoria Allnatt

The 24th September this year will mark the 20th anniversary of the commencement of the Treasure Act 1996 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Over the last twenty years thousands of archaeological items discovered by the general public have been acquired by museums throughout the country.

Staffordshire hoard 

In Staffordshire many treasure items are now on display at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. Commencing on 22nd July you will be able to follow a Treasure 20 Trail at the museum exploring many unique and intriguing artefacts such as the Staffordshire Hoard. You will learn how the firethorn plant became essential to the way the objects in the hoard were cleaned by the team of conservators. The Staffordshire Hoard exhibition places the discovered artefacts in to the context of everyday life in the Anglo Saxon period. There are many finds from the period on display including a gold necklace pendant inlaid with a garnet which came into fashion in the seventh century. An animal headed strap end made in silver and inlaid with niello is another intriguing object on display and it is thought the eye sockets, now empty, would have originally been filled with glass.
A resized image of Early Medieval: Trewhiddle strap end

Also on display will be this gold finger ring which probably dates to the 15th Century. The ring is engraved with figures representing the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

A resized image of Medieval: Iconographic finger ring

A gold finger ring of a similar date will also be included in the trail with an inscription reading ‘Love conquers all except the heart of a villain. Love sends solace and joy’. Another finger ring on display, this time in silver depicts  two dragons’ heads with bulbous eyes and large, pointed ears.

In December 2016 two metal detectorists discovered in Staffordshire what are now known as the Leekfrith torcs. The hoard consists of three complete neck sized torcs and a one bracelet. Torc four was initially incomplete but the second half was found at a latter date when the pair revisited the site.

A resized image of Iron Age: Hoard of torcs

All of the objects in the hoard are most likely continental imports into Britain and are the earliest Iron Age gold (as well as some of the earliest Celtic art) discovered in the country dating to 4th to early 3rd century BC (400-250 BC). It is possible that the torcs arrived as gifts, or as trade goods, but the preferred scenario is that they were carried to the region around the necks and wrists of their owners, perhaps continental women who married into the local community.

A resized image of Iron Age: Clasp of Torc 2

Along the trail you can also see other non-treasure objects that have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme and are of national importance such as The Staffordshire Moorlands Pan.

P&E Receipt 3801. staffordshire moorlands roman enamelled bronze pan Prehistory and Europe

The copper alloy pan known as a Trulla is dated to the Roman period, circa AD 100-199. It is unique in that it is only one of three known to vessels with inscriptions naming forts on Hadrian’s Wall. All three are likely to be souvenirs of Hadrian’s Wall.