51°09′06″N 2°49′26″W / 51.1517°N 2.8238°W / 51.1517; -2.8238
The Shapwick Hoard is a hoard of 9,262 Roman coins found at Shapwick, Somerset, England in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD.[1] The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before,[2] and the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Britain.[3][4]
Discovery, excavation and valuation
The hoard was discovered by cousins Kevin and Martin Elliott,[5] who were amateur metal detectorists, in a field at Shapwick. Excavation of the site found that it had been "buried in the corner of a room of a previously unknown Roman building" and, after further excavation and geophysical surveying, "revealed the room to be part of a courtyard villa".[6]
Following a treasure inquest at Taunton, the hoard was declared treasure and valued at £265,000. Somerset County Museum Services acquired the hoard, with the aid of Somerset County Council, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and other organisations, and it is now displayed at the Museum of Somerset in the grounds of Taunton Castle.[7]
An addendum to the discovery was filed in the Treasure Annual Report 2000 which added a further 23 coins, valued at £690, also found by Kevin and Martin Elliott.[4][8]
Items discovered
Notable inclusions in the hoard were 260 coins from the reign of Mark Antony from 31–30 BC, with over half the coins being struck in the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211).[1] There were also two rare coins not discovered in Britain before depicting Manlia Scantilla, the wife of Didius Julianus, an emperor who was murdered four weeks after the coins were struck.[2] Non-Roman coins included were three Lycian drachmae and one drachma of Caesarea in Cappadocia.[1] The latest coin struck was in 224 AD, and it is estimated that the hoard as a whole represented ten years' pay for a Roman legionary.[9]
Other hoards
Shapwick has been the site of various hoard discoveries over the years, although the 1998 find was by far the largest.
- In 1868, fourteen coins from 306–361 were found in the Shapwick turbary and given to Glastonbury Museum in 1948.[10]
- Between 1936 and 1938, four hoards were found in close proximity to each other:[11]
- Hoard A: a pewter cup, containing a pottery beaker of 120 mid-fourth to early-fifth century silver siliquae, along with a pewter saucer and platter
- Hoard B: a pottery beaker inside a pewter jug containing 125 silver siliquae from the same era as Hoard A
- Hoard C: a pewter canister containing around 1,170 bronze coins from 320–390, mostly of Valentinianic dynasty (364–375)
- Hoard D: a bronze cased wooden stave tankard; a pewter bowl with pedestal; a bronze bowl. Estimated late fourth century
- In 1978, over 1,000 copper coins from 305–423 were found in a pewter vessel.[12]
