One of England’s most valuable ancient coins, estimated at £4.3 million (€5.1 million), will join the collections of the Somerset Museum in Taunton. It will be exhibited at the British Museum before touring England to be shown to the public. A look back at its extraordinary story.
This set was discovered in 2019 by a group of seven friends who went on a weekend trip to the Chew Valley to test their metal detectors. Lisa Grace and Adam Staples, who dug up most of the coins, discovered a first coin while searching the ground using the detector. “From that point on, it was just crazy”reports Adam Staples for the BBC. The friends discover another room as a violent storm breaks out, and they end up with 2,584 silver coins at the end of the day, soaked but overjoyed. “It was as if the gods did not want to disturb the treasure”jokes Lisa Grace.
It is one of the most remarkable numismatic collections ever discovered on English soil, according to the British Museum. The lot is of great value because of its excellent state of conservation, but also because it contains twice as many pieces representing Harold II as all previous discoveries, reports the BBC. The discovery dwarfs that of the Staffordshire Hoard, a collection of gold and silver objects estimated at £3.3 million (€3.9 million) discovered in 2009.
The coins are dated between 1066 and 1068 AD. Of the total, 1,253 silver coins depict Harold II, the last Saxon king of England, and the other half (1,310 coins) are effigy of William the Conqueror (1066-1087), the first Norman king. One of the pieces depicts Edward III “The Confessor” (1042-1066). On each of the coins, we find a portrait of the king with symbols of his authority (a crown and a scepter), his name and his titles. The reverses of the coins bear political or religious messages: a flowered cross on those of William the Conqueror or the Latin inscription “pax” or “peace”. Some “mule” coins have also been discovered: these are mismatched coins, with a combination of designs that were not intended to go together. In total, the parts were manufactured by 46 production workshops in the southeast of the country.
It seems that this ensemble, dating from the Battle of Hastings (1068), was hidden for preservation while England was in the midst of the Norman Conquest. “This remarkable collection of coins gives us a unique insight into the rich history of our country and one of the most important moments in our history, when these islands were rocked by the Norman Conquest”explains Chris Bryant, the minister in charge of heritage for the BBC.
The treasure will be on display at the British Museum in London from November 26, 2024, then will tour the United Kingdom, including Bath, near where it was discovered.
The set will then join the permanent collections of the Somerset Museum in Taunton in 2026. It was acquired by the South West Heritage Trust, which manages the Museum’s collections. To acquire this set, the South West Heritage Trust received £4.4 million (€5.1 million) from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as well as smaller grants from the Friends of the Somerset Museum and the Somerset Archaeological and Historical Society. Under the English Treasures Act 1996, the person who discovered the coins must sell it to a museum through a price set by the British Museum’s Treasure Valuation Committee. The seven people will share half of the profits from the sale equally and the owner of the land will receive the other half.