Latest Treasure from Staffordshire

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.

Digging the dirt on the Romans

As we celebrate 1.5 million finds on our database, I reflect upon one of the more exciting finds and retrievals of an object that I have been involved in during my four and a half years as a FLO.

Near Barlaston in Staffordshire, Steve Squire, a metal detectorist living in the area discovered a small ceramic vessel containing a large quantity of Roman radiate coins. So called for the crown like headgear that the Emperors are depicted wearing. Unfortunately, as he removed the pot from its resting place for over 1,700 years the vessel crumbled and when it arrived at The British Museum conservation department it was fragmented. However, the sherds and coins were conserved at when researched and catalogued found to comprise 2,015 radiates, 1 denarius and some associated metal objects.

A Probus coin from Barlaston I
This is the last coin from the hoard, dating to Bastien series 2 (AD 276).

In May of the following year, Mr Squire was detecting back at the same site and received another large signal, surprisingly just over four metres from his original hoard find. This time he was determined not to disturb any further deposits and called the PAS office straight away. The finder was following best practice guidelines by leaving the hoard in situ. The site was covered over and he only shared the findspot information with the farmer in order to protect the location. Within a few days I was able to travel to the site and meet with the county archaeologist, armed with our trowels, and what we hoped would be a large enough container to be able to bring back the suspected second hoard.

Myself and the county archaeologist revealing the second coin hoard, named Barlaston II

We carefully removed the top soil to reveal a small collection of bronze coins. Further removal of soil revealed the curved edge of a greyware vessel. Unfortunately it looked like the plough had hit it and already caused some damage. As we peeled back the layers of soil to the excitement of the finder and his family, a second hoard was revealed.

The finders son was very excited to be involved – a young archaeologist in the making.

After a morning excavating, we were able to reveal the full extent of the hoard container. We wrapped the ceramic vessel and coins in cling film to keep it as together as it could be considering the plough damage. We placed a board underneath and then we were then able to lift the hoard together with the coins in situ and the surrounding soil. Unfortunately we didn’t have a fridge large enough back at the museum to keep the object cold. Instead we had to make do with the cool conditions of our safe and wrap the soil in damp towels as advised by the conservators at the British Museum. I was relieved when the head conservator emailed to say the box had arrived safely and work could begin on excavating through the layers of coins in the lab. Unfortunately on this occasion it didn’t appear that the coins had been deposited with any specific numismatic composition.

Discussing the micro-excavation at the British Museum. Duygu Camurcuoglu (left), Sarahi Naidorf (centre) Pingfang Wang (right)

micro-excavation of the soil block 1

Other examples of hoards that have been carefully conserved in laboratory situations such as The Shrewsbury Hoard revealed that the large vessel was being used as a kind of community bank. The owners were going back to the hoard to make further deposits some 10 years later owing to the date of the coins.

Dr Eleanor Ghey, curator of Iron Age and Roman coin hoards at the British Museum commented that it was most unusual to find two Roman coin hoards in such close proximity in this area of the Midlands as Radiate hoards are not commonly found in Staffordshire. The hoard also contained a relatively high proportion of coins with good silver content. This is significant as the silver content of radiates reduced significantly over the third century.

Radiate of Laelian, c.AD 269 from Barlaston II. Single coins of Laelian are quite rare on the PAS database.

This second hoard, named Barlaston II consisted of 1166 radiates dating to AD 276 or later. It contains a coin of Laelian which is a rare single coin find. The proportions of coins in the two hoards are similar, although Barlaston II has a higher percentage of coins of Postumus and Victorinus and lower percentage of coins of the Tetrici compared to Barlaston I. Coin hoards are common in this period when they may have been abandoned once the coins became worthless after the coinage reform of Aurelian. However, we will never know the true reason the coins were never recovered. Both hoards were subsequently declared treasure and acquired by The Potteries Museum in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. They were also included in my colleague Teresa Gilmore’s publication 50 finds from Staffordshire.