Everyone of you must had been remember about 52,503 Roman coins found by Dave Crisp last April stuffed into a giant pot bellied jar, buried in a field near Frome. The largest coin hoard ever found in a single container in Britain has been valued at £320,250 after hours of debate and conflicting opinions from three experts. Art fund had lunched a campaign to save the Frome Hoard for Somerset museum in Taunton. Including five exceptionally rare silver coins minted for "the forgotten emperor" Carausius, who ruled Britain for seven years until he was murdered by his finance minister in 293 AD.
Photo: CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER-telegraph.co.uk
The fund will give an initial £40,250 to kick start the appeal, and will then match every pound given by the public up to a further £10,000. The British Museum will also give 50p from every copy of a new book about the find written by its experts. Most of the coins are comparatively low value, but include the largest collection ever found of Carausius coins, including some in fabulous condition, better than the British Museum's examples.
Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "We're extremely excited to be part of Somerset's campaign to acquire this extraordinary treasure. To think that this pot packed full of coins lay buried beneath the soil for almost 2,000 years - it really is incredible."
T. Sam N. Moorhead, British Museum advisor for Iron age and Roman coins, is convinced it was an offering never meant to be retrieved, not a giant piggy bank, and the the weight was the point: the gods liked metal and plenty of it. The people gave the greatest weight they could accumulate, and coins were the easiest source when they couldn't get their hands on the bronze axe heads or swords and shields their ancestors had buried or thrown into rivers.
Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "We're extremely excited to be part of Somerset's campaign to acquire this extraordinary treasure. To think that this pot packed full of coins lay buried beneath the soil for almost 2,000 years - it really is incredible."
T. Sam N. Moorhead, British Museum advisor for Iron age and Roman coins, is convinced it was an offering never meant to be retrieved, not a giant piggy bank, and the the weight was the point: the gods liked metal and plenty of it. The people gave the greatest weight they could accumulate, and coins were the easiest source when they couldn't get their hands on the bronze axe heads or swords and shields their ancestors had buried or thrown into rivers.
Photo by Guardian.co.uk: rare silver coins minted for "the forgotten emperor" Carausius.
Years of work remain on the coins but Steve Minnitt, of the Taunton museum, said: "We are determined to keep the hoard together and in Somerset". Some will be on display at Frome Library next Saturday morning, with Dave Crisp in attendance - a repeat event after more than 2,000 people queued for hours the first time.
The Art Fund will launch a special website for the hoard later this week, but donations can be offered now through savefromehoard@artfund.org.
Source: Guardian.co.uk.
