A massive hoard of almost 22,000 Roman coins unearthed near Seaton in east Devon in November last year has been announced as the largest Roman Coin Hoard found in Britain by the British Museum. The hoard was then carefully removed in its entirety by a team of archaeologists and over the past 10 months the coins have been lightly cleaned, identified and catalogued by experts from the British Museum.
The coin hoard was found by East Devon builder Laurence Egerton on the Clinton Devon Estate near the previously excavated site of a Roman villa at Honeyditches. Dubbed the 'Seaton Down Hoard' the 22,000 ancient coins would be the equivalent of two years pay for the average Roman soldier.
"Initially I found two small coins the size of a thumbnail sitting on top of the ground and then, as I began working in a grid formation in the surrounding area I had a 50 50 signal on the metal detector which means that there is probably iron involved," he said.
"Most detectors are set up to ignore iron but I decided to dig the earth at that spot and immediately reached some iron ingots which were laid directly on top of the coins.
"The next shovel was full of coins - they just spilled out over the field.
"I had no idea how far down the coins went so I stopped immediately and phoned my wife to come to the site with a camera.
"Under the terms of my licence, I contacted Clinton Devon Estates and Devon County Council and was instructed to take away what was loose and then fill in the hole.
"Between finding the hoard and the archaeologists excavating the site I slept alongside it in my car for three nights to guard it.
"It's by far the biggest find I've ever had. It really doesn't get any better than this."
The combined weight of the coins is 68kg. They have been lightly cleaned at the British Museum prior to valuation under the Treasure Act 1996.
The copper alloy coin, called a nummus, was struck in AD 332 at the mint of Lyon (Gaul). It shows the personification of Constantinopolis on the obverse and a Victory on prow on the reverse. This very common type was struck by Constantine the Great across the Empire to celebrate the inauguration of the new city of Constantinople, which was to become the capital of the Eastern Empire. The hoard is the largest of its kind found in Britain.
Other coins date from the joint reign of Constantius II and his younger brother Constans, from AD 337 to 40.
Dr Roger Bland, from the British Museum, said: "It is one of the largest coin hoards of the fourth century ever found within the Roman Empire but, despite the number of coins found, the financial value would not have been great, amounting to approximately four gold coins.
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter hope to acquire the hoard and a fundraising campaign has been launched today.
