COIN HOARD

I have examined a group of coins found at Tyringham with Filgrave, Buckinghamshire. All are official silver coins of the kings of England of the 13^th and 14^th centuries and will thus be of the sterling standard, over 90% fine metal.

All but one of the coins is of the Long Cross coinage, in production and currency 1247-1278. The remaining coin is a penny of Edward II, from the early 14^th century.

The Long Cross coins are mostly cut fractions, with just one full penny but 16 cut halfpennies and 3 cut farthings. (The penny was the only actual coin produced at this time and it was physically cut up into halves and quarters to provide lesser denominations.) A detailed catalogue of the coins accompanies this report.

The condition of the coins is mostly very poor, with a wide range of weights for the cut halfpennies. Many of these have been severely clipped (the best of the cut farthings is heavier than the worst of the cut halfpennies).

The main question is whether this group constitutes a single loss, of whether it consists of coins individually lost, perhaps on a fair or market site. The penny of Edward II comes from a different currency period and is very unlikely indeed to be part of a single deposit of coins otherwise consisting solely of Long Cross coins, so at least one of the coins found must be an individually-lost item. The variable quality and overall poor condition of the Long Cross coins might well also suggest individually lost material. However, in terms of sub-classes of the Long Cross coins present, with class 5 dominating, the group does seem to belong to the later part of the coinage, rather than coins lost individually across the whole Long Cross period.

One could legitimately interpret the Long Cross coins in two ways with equal justification: as single losses from a site active in the period c. 1260-80; or else as a body of poor material lost at one point in time, perhaps the contents of a purse of ready money. Given this, my opinion would be that the find does not clearly fulfil the criteria of Treasure according to the terms of the Act.

Dr Barrie J. Cook, Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage, Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum, 15 May 2012