One of the oldest coin found in Britain has been discovered after sitting on a shelf for a decade. The silver denarius Roman Republic coin dating from 211BC was found during an excavation in 2000 at Hallaton, Leics. But the coin sat in storage at a Leicester museum with 5000 other coins, a helmet and decorated bowl found at the dig. The Museum only realized about the coin when experts doing their catalogue for the Hallaton coin. The coins have been catalogued by Ian Leins, curator of Iron Age and Roman coins at the British Museum.
The coin, which would have been the equivalent of a day's pay for a legionary, predates Britain's previous oldest Roman coin by four years. Experts can tell the Hallaton coin is older as it does not feature a crescent shaped imprint visible on the Berkshire coin. It said the coin, which has the Goddess Roma on one side. The other side depicts mythical twins Castor and Pollux sat on galloping horses. The other coin found in Berkshire has a crescent between the heads, it is believed that the types with the issue marks are slightly later. The Hallaton coin is an early, anonymous type coin, which lacks a moneyer's name and any issuer's marks.Some archaeologists have however speculated that such Roman Republican coins found their way into Britain before the Roman conquest in 43 AD and were evidence of exchange through trade or diplomacy.
Helen Sharp, Hallaton Treasure project manager, said it was a big shock to discover they had such a significant find right under their noses.
She said: "The coin had been kept in storage for ten years in a low humidity room, just sitting there on a shelf.
"It was such a big surprise when we found out it is the oldest Roman coin in the country – it was dug up a decade ago. It is such a huge task to log and date coins, the hoard was so large. The coin was finally dated in 2009, but we didn't realise it was Britain's oldest until this week. It is really exciting that treasure discovered ten years ago can still keep surprising us."
The coin is now set to be a star attraction of the collection being displayed at Harborough Museum, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. alongside other coins that were excavated at a late Iron Age shrine of the Corieltavi tribe dating to the first century AD.
She said: "The coin had been kept in storage for ten years in a low humidity room, just sitting there on a shelf.
"It was such a big surprise when we found out it is the oldest Roman coin in the country – it was dug up a decade ago. It is such a huge task to log and date coins, the hoard was so large. The coin was finally dated in 2009, but we didn't realise it was Britain's oldest until this week. It is really exciting that treasure discovered ten years ago can still keep surprising us."
The coin is now set to be a star attraction of the collection being displayed at Harborough Museum, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. alongside other coins that were excavated at a late Iron Age shrine of the Corieltavi tribe dating to the first century AD.
Photo by BBC: Malcolm Langford, Henry and Anni Byard.
Britain's previous oldest coin was unearthed in Berkshire last year on the site of the UK's oldest road the Roman-built Ridgeway, near Avebury. The coin found by retired electrician Malcolm Langford, who has been metal detecting for seven years. The age of the coin discovered when he took it, along with another Iron Age silver coin of Eppillus to the West Berkshire and Oxfordshire Finds Liaison Officer, Anni Byard. Anni immediately confirmed the Iron Age coin was only one of 11 that have been recorded in the UK and suspected the Roman coin, a Republican silver denarius, was quite rare.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk, BBC News UK
