UK: While digging in backyard man unearths hoard of 20,000 Roman coins.

BBC On-Line ^ | Thursday, 11 March, 2004 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Thursday, 11 March, 2004, 11:45 GMT

Roman treasure found in pond dig

The coins are thought to date from the 4th century

A man unearthed a priceless hoard of 20,000 Roman coins as he dug a new fishpond in his back garden. Experts say the money may date from the 4th Century and could be the biggest find of its kind in Britain.

The coins were crammed into a ceramic pot which broke up as it was dug out of the ground at Thornbury, Gloucestershire.

Now a coroner must decide if Ken Allen, who made the discovery, can keep the treasure.

Gail Boyle, from Bristol Museum, said: "This is the most amazing find of treasure to come out of this area for 30 years."

Mr Allen said: "It was a great surprise and at first I didn't realise what we had found.

"The pot was perfectly upright, I can't believe that this discovery was only 20ft from our house."

"I can't believe that this discovery was only 20ft from our house,"- Ken Allen

Kurt Adams, the Finds Liaison Officer for Gloucestershire and Avon, said: "The coins identified so far can be attributed to Constantine the Great.

"The mint marks - a letter or symbol used to indicate the mint which produced the coin - suggest Trier, Germany and Constantinople as possible places of origin."

Treasure trove

The coins are in the care of Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery where they are being cleaned in a special laboratory.

They will then be taken to the British Museum in London for further examination.

A spokeswoman for Bristol Coroner's Court said that even though the coins were found on Mr Allen's property they could still be ruled as being property of the state.

"What determines this is if the coins were buried there intentionally or lost.

"It is possible somebody put them there and forgot about them, or never intended for them to be found.

"The coroner can rule whether they are the finder's treasure or not."

[AzSteven]

Sadly, if it is an antiquity, the local, county, state or even federal government could make a claim on it. Much of the ownership of privately-owned land in the United States does not include mineral rights, which includes rights to things dug out of the land.

[RSmithOpt]

All your coins are belong to us......

[StolarStorm]

Especially if it's of Native American origin. Even if you HAVE mineral rights they will take whatever it is from you and possibly prosecute you for tampering with it. I know.... it happenned to a friend of mine.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Tyranny continues to thrive in GB.

Doesn't everyone bury their coins to never be found or used? /sarcasm off

I have to wonder if he felt stupid as he heard himself say, "It is possible somebody put them there and forgot about them, or never intended for them to be found."

Prolly not.

[Swanks]

What Ken should have done was find 20,000; er, 5,000 coins. And kept his cut before the Gov't comes and 'gets theirs'.

[Old Professer]

I wonder how much a slightly used coroner goes for these days?

[BadAndy]

Exactly, the poor bugger is sure to get screwed royal.

[Old Professer]

Check your deed; does it say fee simple?

[robertpaulsen]

"It is possible somebody put them there and forgot about them"

Wait a minute! Did the article say Gloucestershire, specifically Thornbury? And are they sure the pot was ceramic? 20,000 coins?

Well how about that! Here I thought I buried them in Tewkesbury. I've been looking all over for them.

Mystery solved. They're mine.

[scan58]

A man unearthed a priceless hoard of 20,000 Roman coins...

While it is possible these coins are the rare ones, I know I have seen coins like this in the local coin shop and they are probably far from "priceless". I bought several of them for very cheap. (not 20,000, however)
They are mostly copper or some other soft metal stamped with the image of the "leader of the moment" for whatever part of the empire they were created in.
I guess there were so many created for circulation, they don't bring much value to collectors.

[ffusco]

That's what I'd have done. Or just keep my mouth shut.

[Gorzaloon]

He should have told nobody and sold them one at a time.

It would have taken him a long time for a little gain. I bought a handful of Trier Mint coins with Constantine on them (From the Beachy Head Hoarde) for only a few Pounds at a coin shop in Southampton.

At Low Tide, there are coin shooters all over with their metal detectors. Britain was crawling with Romans, for a long, long time. Well, I guess, in a way, it WAS Roman.

[RightWhale]

Amazing. Sales of metal detectors should be increasing now.

[bobo1]

You are very correct. I stand corrected.

Blessings, Bobo

[EagleMamaMT]

One of my distant relatives actually found a small iron pot full of pre-Civil War gold coins back about 1935. He was plowing his field and heard the plow strike something metal. He decided to investigate and see what it was. It turned out to be a small cast-iron pot filled with pre-Civil War gold coins. The Feds confiscated the gold, though, as this was after America went off the gold standard. He never did know how the Feds found out he had it. They showed up at his house about a week after he found it.

[auggy]

"They will then be taken to the British Museum in London for further examination."

Like hell they will.

If, I found them on my property, and I dug them up, they are my property.

Now, for a few billion pounds they could go to London.

[RightWhale]

to which "State" should the coins go? Back to Rome?

Rome vacated the city on the Tiber and moved to Constantinople long ago, but then moved again. Rome might well be considered as being in London, or possibly moved to America now.

[ffusco]

Cultural artifacts including shipwrecks are sometimes considered part of the national treasure.