Latest news with #NorfolkHistoricEnvironmentService
BBC News
15 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
One of a kind 7th Century Anglo-Saxon coin found in Norfolk field
A tiny gold coin which is believed to be the oldest from the Anglo-Saxons in East Anglia has been found in a expert Adrian Marsden described the coin as a "massively significant" find that was struck in the 7th design depicts a man dancing a jig while holding a Christian cross above a symbol linked to the Norse god coin was discovered by a metal detectorist near Norwich in the autumn and Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire it. "It's the first one of this type of coin that we've seen and new types of shillings just don't turn up," said Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service."It's got this fascinating iconography of a little figure with a long cross - explicitly Christian - over the valknut design, which has pagan roots."Dr Marsden said all the evidence pointed to it being "the earliest Anglo-Saxon East Anglian coin so far known", dating it to AD640 to was struck at a time when pagan beliefs were starting to give way to Christianity, and its design appears to straddle this time of change. Experts associate the design with the god Odin, whose roles in Norse mythology included ferrying the dead to the the 20th Century, the valknut was adopted as a symbol by white supremacists among coin dates back to the same era as the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial, which, as Dr Marsden explained, had a mix of Christian and pagan grave goods. On the reverse of the coin is a design that could be a cross or could be a swastika, then recognised as a good luck symbol, surrounded by an attempt at a Latin Marsden recently published his research in the Searcher."It's plain from looking at the letters that whoever made the die wasn't literate, the letters don't bear much resemblance to Latin - they're garbage really," he revealed the coin was made from a very high gold content, of up to 60%. Dr Marsden also pointed out it was the second coin in Norfolk to benefit from a new treasure definition on "the basis of national significance".The government changed the legal definition of the 1996 Treasure Act two years ago, to try getting more artefacts on public display.A coroner decides if a discovery is treasure and a museum usually gets first refusal over whether to store it. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Detectorist finds hoard of Roman silver coins
A hoard of 16 silver Roman coins spanning two centuries has been discovered in a field by a detectorist. The denarii date from the late Roman Republic to the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina and were found at Barton Bendish, Norfolk. Coin specialist Adrian Marsden said the loss might have been the equivalent of "a few hundred quid" to its owner. The hoard is the subject of a treasure inquest and King's Lynn Museum is hoping to acquire it. "There's 200 years-worth of coins in the hoard, which is what you get with a stable currency," Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, said. "It's similar to the 1960s when you'd still get Victorian pennies in your change, although they were practically worn smooth." The earliest coin in the hoard dates from 57BC and is also the most worn. It was made in the Roman Republic which lasted from 57BC, when a monarch was replaced by elected magistrates, until AD27, when the empire began. The rest of the coins show six emperors and two of their wives, with the most recent denarii dating to AD175-6. Dr Marsden said it was impossible to know if the coins were a purse loss or had been deliberately hidden "which is simply what you do when you haven't got banks". "We do know that this part of Norfolk, the area on the fen edge around King's Lynn, was a very prosperous part of Britain - there was a line of villas her and you've got [the county's longest Roman road], the Peddars Way - because the soil is very fertile and it's prime agricultural land," he said. "While it's always very difficult to tie in coins with prices today, because the structure of society was so very different, the loss was probably worth the equivalent of a few hundred quid to its owner. " Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Roman coin hoard sells for £15,000 at auction Coin finds linked to 1970s Roman hoard 'Exceptional' Roman gold coin hoard found Portable Antiquities Scheme
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Detectorist finds hoard of Roman silver coins
A hoard of 16 silver Roman coins spanning two centuries has been discovered in a field by a detectorist. The denarii date from the late Roman Republic to the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina and were found at Barton Bendish, Norfolk. Coin specialist Adrian Marsden said the loss might have been the equivalent of "a few hundred quid" to its owner. The hoard is the subject of a treasure inquest and King's Lynn Museum is hoping to acquire it. "There's 200 years-worth of coins in the hoard, which is what you get with a stable currency," Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, said. "It's similar to the 1960s when you'd still get Victorian pennies in your change, although they were practically worn smooth." The earliest coin in the hoard dates from 57BC and is also the most worn. It was made in the Roman Republic which lasted from 57BC, when a monarch was replaced by elected magistrates, until AD27, when the empire began. The rest of the coins show six emperors and two of their wives, with the most recent denarii dating to AD175-6. Dr Marsden said it was impossible to know if the coins were a purse loss or had been deliberately hidden "which is simply what you do when you haven't got banks". "We do know that this part of Norfolk, the area on the fen edge around King's Lynn, was a very prosperous part of Britain - there was a line of villas her and you've got [the county's longest Roman road], the Peddars Way - because the soil is very fertile and it's prime agricultural land," he said. "While it's always very difficult to tie in coins with prices today, because the structure of society was so very different, the loss was probably worth the equivalent of a few hundred quid to its owner. " Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Roman coin hoard sells for £15,000 at auction Coin finds linked to 1970s Roman hoard 'Exceptional' Roman gold coin hoard found Portable Antiquities Scheme
BBC News
01-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Barton Bendish detectorist finds Roman silver coin hoard
A hoard of 16 silver Roman coins spanning two centuries has been discovered in a field by a denarii date from the late Roman Republic to the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina and were found at Barton Bendish, specialist Adrian Marsden said the loss might have been the equivalent of "a few hundred quid" to its owner. The hoard is the subject of a treasure inquest and King's Lynn Museum is hoping to acquire it. "There's 200 years-worth of coins in the hoard, which is what you get with a stable currency," Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, said."It's similar to the 1960s when you'd still get Victorian pennies in your change, although they were practically worn smooth."The earliest coin in the hoard dates from 57BC and is also the most was made in the Roman Republic which lasted from 57BC, when a monarch was replaced by elected magistrates, until AD27, when the empire began. The rest of the coins show six emperors and two of their wives, with the most recent denarii dating to Marsden said it was impossible to know if the coins were a purse loss or had been deliberately hidden "which is simply what you do when you haven't got banks". "We do know that this part of Norfolk, the area on the fen edge around King's Lynn, was a very prosperous part of Britain - there was a line of villas her and you've got [the county's longest Roman road], the Peddars Way - because the soil is very fertile and it's prime agricultural land," he said."While it's always very difficult to tie in coins with prices today, because the structure of society was so very different, the loss was probably worth the equivalent of a few hundred quid to its owner. " Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
