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UK: While digging in backyard man unearths hoard of 20,000 Roman coins.
BBC On-Line ^ | Thursday, 11 March, 2004 | staff writer

Posted on 03/11/2004 9:12:07 AM PST by 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."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: ancientrome; archeology; artifacts; coins; england; epigraphyandlanguage; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; privateproperty; propertyofthestate; propertyrights; romancoins; romanempire; treasure; uk
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To: yankeedame
Now a coroner must decide if Ken Allen, who made the discovery, can keep the treasure.

Maaybe I'm a cynic...alright, I'm a cynic...but how do you suppose THAT decision will go.

Kiss the coins goodbye Ken. You can visit them in the museum. Maybe.

61 posted on 03/11/2004 10:50:26 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (If you can read this...you're too close.)
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To: yankeedame
I don't know who will get to keep the treasure, but I can tell you one thing for sure. This is every property law professor's wet dream of a case.

Possible angles include:

* Who owns the coins under Roman law? Would Roman law apply?

* Would the intervening years between the Roman Empire and the Norman conquest of England in 1066 have any legal effect on the coins?

* If the English law courts find that the coins belong to the crown, could the landowner maintain an action for unjust enrichment against the crown, seeing that it was the landowner who performed the important and valuable service of finding the coins?

* and so on ad infinitum
62 posted on 03/11/2004 11:03:30 AM PST by rogueleader
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To: SolutionsOnly
Finders-keepers!
63 posted on 03/11/2004 11:10:19 AM PST by ffusco (Maecilius Fuscus,Governor of Longovicium , Manchester, England. 238-244 AD)
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To: Stewart_B
Interesting. Thanks!
64 posted on 03/11/2004 11:35:25 AM PST by scan58
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To: rogueleader
This is every property law professor's wet dream of a case.

No, The ancient law of Treasure Trove (which is why a Coroner is involved) makes these questions very clear. Treasure Trove laws precede 'government' (in the modern sense) by centuries.

65 posted on 03/11/2004 12:32:59 PM PST by Winniesboy
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To: JOAT
From what I've heard about him, he was a pretty closed-mouthed ol' boy, but he did have a wife and 9 kids. I've always wondered if one of the kids bragged to another kid about what their father had discovered. I don't remember this relative too well. He was my great-uncle but he died when I was young. I do remember he was a pretty grim ol' codger and never had too much to say to anyone. Maybe he was grim from losing all that money? :)
66 posted on 03/11/2004 12:38:05 PM PST by EagleMamaMT
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To: yankeedame; martin_fierro
A lotta good those coins would do him. What's he gonna do with the darn things? Where's he gonna find a vending machine that will accept Roman coins? "Oh, I think I'll pop down to the vending machine and buy myself a Chariot Cola, by jove!"
67 posted on 03/11/2004 1:22:13 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Veni, Vidi, Vicki: "I came, I saw, and I'm like, 'Omigod!'")
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To: Winniesboy
I did not know that. Thank you.

I guess the guy will get compensation after all.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,774664,00.html

68 posted on 03/11/2004 3:46:00 PM PST by rogueleader
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To: yankeedame
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.

You can count on it.

69 posted on 03/11/2004 7:07:45 PM PST by itsahoot (The lesser of two evils, is evil still...Alan Keyes)
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To: yankeedame
I saw this and thought of this post. I think it shows that the treasure trove system in the UK is reasonably fair. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1130782/posts
70 posted on 05/06/2004 3:19:35 PM PDT by pau1f0rd
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To: *Gods, Graves, Glyphs; blam
Thanks!
71 posted on 07/20/2004 10:09:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Unlike some people, I have a profile. Okay, maybe it's a little large...)
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Just updating the GGG information, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
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72 posted on 10/12/2005 9:03:22 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated by FR profile on Sunday, August 14, 2005.)
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Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution.

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73 posted on 11/27/2009 7:08:31 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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