130 APRIL 2016 http://www.stampandcoin.co.ukBritish Museum exhibition
Hordes
of hoards
The Ancient Celts believed that gold plundered
from tombs spelt death and disaster for anyone
who discovered them. Fortunately, as a new British
Museum exhibition reveals, real-life hoards have
proved to be exceptionally lucky for their finders,
and numismatists. By Paula Hammond- Frome Hoard, 2010. One of the largest British
Roman coin hoards, containing 52,503 coins
dating between 253-305 AD. - Cuerdale Hoard, 1840. Containing 8,600+ items.
One of the largest Viking Hoards ever found. - Staffordshire Hoard, 2009. Largest hoard of
Anglo-Saxon gold and silver comprising up to
5 kg of gold and 1.3 kg of silver. - Snettersham Hoard, 1948-1990. So far, over 200
torcs, 100 bracelet and ring ‘ingots’, and coins
have been found possibly representing the
combined treasure of Iceni tribe. - Le Catillon II Hoard, Jersey, 2012. Raised in a single
block this may well be world’s largest Celtic
coin hoard comprising at least 70,000 coins.
Fabulous nds
T
he Exhibition, called
‘Hoards: The Hidden
History of Ancient
Britain’, is tucked away in
Room 69a of the British
Museum’s Coin Gallery and proves to
be a treasure trove in its own right. The
culmination of a three-year collaboration
between the Museum and Leicester
University, the focus is on Bronze Age
through to Roman coin hoards, with
cases packed with both the shiny stuff and
fascinating background information.Lost and found
Anyone can drop a penny or mislay a
purse but hoards are ‘caches’ of coins
which have been deliberately stored or
hidden. While the majority of hoards so
far uncovered date from the Middle Ages,
the practice goes back to pre-history and
probably continues to this day.
It’s impossible to say for certain, but it’s
likely that people have always had similar
reasons for ‘stockpiling’ money and this
exhibition speculates on some of those.
Saving for the future was certainly aconsideration. Hoards often show signs
that they’ve been added to, systematically,
with ‘runs’ of coins found that often
cover several generations. Economic
turmoil plays its part too. Just as people
today may invest in gold to protect their
savings, coins were hoarded during times
of financial instability, with ‘good’, older
issues valued over newer, debased ones.
People also hid their wealth to stop
it from falling into the wrong hands.
It’s easy to imagine a family fleeing an
invading army and hiding their better
jewellery and larger-denomination
coinage, ‘somewhere safe’ before they left.
However some hoards don’t fit the usual
pattern. The Selby Hoard, for instance,
was found in a container that once held
a quantity of chaff. It could be that old
grain pots were simply re-purposed to
hold the coins, or that grain was placed in
the pot to hide the treasures lying below.
Or, archaeologists think, perhaps not.
One of the key themes of the exhibition
is the idea that some coin caches may
have been intended as ritual offerings.
In fact, the exhibition centre piece is thep130 British Museum Hoards.indd 130 01/03/2016 12:35