Posted on 01/18/2009 6:47:45 AM PST by csvset
One of the UK's largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins has been found in Suffolk.
The 824 so-called staters were found in a broken pottery jar buried in a field near Wickham Market using a metal detector.
Jude Plouviez, of the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, said the coins dated from 40BC to AD15.
They are thought to have been minted by predecessors of the Iceni Queen Boudicca.
Ms Plouviez said their value when in circulation had been estimated at a modern equivalent of between £500,000 and £1m, but they were likely to be worth less than that now.
Wealthy tribes
"It's a good, exciting find. It gives us a lot of new information about the late Iron Age, and particularly East Anglia in the late Iron Age.
"The discovery is important because it highlights the probable political, economic and religious importance of an area.
"It certainly suggests there was a significant settlement nearby. As far as we understand, it was occupied by wealthy tribes or subtribes," she said.
Ms Plouviez said the find was the largest collection of Iron Age gold coins found in Britain since 1849, when a farm worker unearthed between 800 and 2,000 gold staters in a field near Milton Keynes.
Secret excavations
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Treasure trove ping
I fully understand the archaeological impulse to hunt for items of antiquity...the first time I ever picked up a stone age projectile point(arrowhead)I was hooked...it’s a hobby that I’ve enjoyed for 20 years now...America is covered with lithic debris; some of which is 12,000 years old...when you make a find you can’t help but wonder about the person who made it.
800 to 2000 is quite a spread. Somebody can't count? Suspicious events?
I’d be wary of the ones stamped 40 BC. :-)
Same here and for a neighbor of mine who has collected arrowheads by the bucketfuls. He has a better collection of arrowheads, spear points, gaming stones, drills than a lot of museums I've visited. He even has a pipe he found along the shore of the Tennessee River. This area of SE Tennessee was home to many projectile makers as is evidenced by all the flint shards you find anytime you turn dirt over. They apparently had an ongoing trade system with a lot of tribes, some of which weren't so local. I'm told that the origin of some flint found here can be traced to as far away as Michigan. I'm always on the lookout when I plow my garden spot. I found one 5" spear point in a neighbor's garden and had it dated by a local Archaeologist to approximately 11,000 BP. Pretty neat.
...Not worth as much as today as 2020 years ago? Ok, here’s a fiver, send them here postage paid...
ping
Instead of burying their money, if they had invested it with a 1% annual rate of return after taxes and inflation, today it would be worth around $700 trillion.
One for the crown, two for me or is it two for the crown and one for me?
Good as money in the bank... is that before bailout good or after bailout good?
“but they were likely to be worth less than that now
Is this a clearly stupid comment, or is there something I’m missing?”
Maybe they are trying to discourage modern day coin collecting. Might as well throw away your state quarter collection.
Are any banks still around from 15BC, though? Hm. Could be tough.
Thanks! That got me laughing.
Pipestone, from a certain quarry in Minnesota, has been found far and wide.
lol nice one.
We have some 14,000 year old poop (coprolite) found in Oregon. See here.
Start digging in John Maynard Friedman, I tells ya!
Now for that name: Iceni Queen Boudicca... that's cool, very bootylicious name
;-)
“dated by a local Archaeologist to approximately 11,000 BP.”
What?
Credit Julius Caesar for probably inspiring the beginning of coin production in Britain after his “visits” in 54 and 55 BC. The locals were wowed by the cool round metal tokens and wanted their own.
the indians had plumbing?
I've got a coin like that! My dad was an avid coin collector. When I was a kid I bought a gag bronze coin at a collectors show. Even though it's worthless, it's one of my favorites.
I think after reading the article, it may be that when discovered the coins intrinsic value was higher than now because of metal prices.
From what I was told they can get reasonably close on the date by looking at the edge work on the point and comparing it to other known pieces. This is what I was told they did with my point. I was told that my spear was definitely Palelo period, but I didn't pay to have the more precise analysis done. The difference in the intricacy of the edge work is supposed to be how they tell the difference in age. The older the point, the more crude the edge work. We also find quite a lot of woodland era points. These have very fine edge work. We find quite a few small bird points that are woodland era. Some points we find you can tell were reworked from larger pieces that either broke from use or broke when the maker was in the process of making them. If you are really lucky you might find what is known as a "pinetree". A few people I know have found fully intact pinetree points. Collectors prize these because they are rare and a good one will fetch big bucks at shows if it's authentic. I have one I found in a field that is only a partial and a guy offered me $50 for it. The edge work on these is very intricate and resembles a serrated bread knife. These are usually found in the best condition in rock houses, caves or along the river banks because these type points rarely survive intact after being plowed over in fields again and again.
I meant, what does “11,000 BP” mean?
Probably “before present”. YA is also common (”years ago”).
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Thanks csvset, stainlessbanner, and BGHater. |
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[The 824 so-called staters were found in a broken pottery jar buried in a field near Wickham Market using a metal detector.]
Why would you bury gold coins using a metal detector instead of a shovel? Like duh!
Well, duh. It's famous for being in Michigan.
Before present.
When I was a kid the Korean war was on and so we played “army” on some vacant lots in the neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas.
We’d dig foxholes and a few feet down we hit a strata of flint. When our army surplus picks hit it, the sparks would fly and the pick damn near bounced out of our hands.
We found lots of arrowheads and spear points at the time, but didn’t attach much significance to the site. It’s all built over with houses now.
Thank you both.
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