The West Bagborough hoard of Roman silver
 |
In October 2001 a hoard of 4th century Roman silver was discovered by James Hawkesworth whilst metal detecting, with the landowner's permission, near West Bagborough, Somerset. The find was promptly reported to the Somerset County Museum and the Coroner for West Somerset, thereby meeting the requirements of the Treasure Act. Following cleaning and identification of the find by staff at the Somerset County Museum, an inquest was held in April 2002 at which the hoard was declared Treasure.
|
The West Bagborough hoard comprises: -
-
681 Roman silver coins, consisting of two denarii from the early 2nd century and 8 miliarenses and 671 siliquae all dating to the period AD 337 – 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and Julian and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome. Many of the coins are in excellent condition having seen little circulation.
|
 |
- 73 pieces of hacksilver, that is scrap silver that has been melted down, poured out and then chopped up with hammer and chisel after cooling. The total weight of hacksilver is 728gm. Individual pieces range in weight from 163gm down to less than 1gm. This large variation in weight suggests that the silver had been cut up for a specific, though undefined, purpose. One of the largest pieces has two lightly incised numbers on its upper surface: XII and VIIII, the meaning of which is unclear at present.
|
 |
The hoard is important for a number of reasons:
-
West Somerset has, to date, produced relatively few finds of Roman date, this discovery therefore helps shed some light on the area.
-
Very few hoards of silver coins dating to the middle decades of the 4th century have been found in Britain. Buried in about AD 365, the West Bagborough hoard provides a rare sample of the coinage in circulation at that period.
-
8% of the siliquae are unofficial copies. Some of these copies were struck from the same dies, which suggests that they may have been locally made.
|
 |
Questions inevitably asked when a hoard is discovered are "why was it buried?" and "why was it not recovered and spent by the owner?". In the case of the West Bagborough hoard we, unfortunately, have no answers. At any time in the Roman period a significant proportion of the coinage would have been tied up in hoards. In most cases the coins would subsequently have been spent leaving no archaeological trace of the hoard's existence. Hoards found today are the exceptions, for some reason they remained where they had been concealed. An archaeological excavation was carried out on the site of the West Bagborough hoard but provided no clues as to the circumstances behind the concealment. Worth the equivalent of one year's salary for a Roman legionary and therefore a substantial sum, we can only assume that a story of misfortune lies behind the hoard.
Somerset County Museums Service acquires the hoard
|
As a find of considerable importance to the archaeology of Somerset, the Somerset County Museums Service determined to acquire the hoard in its entirety. Following the Treasure Inquest, the hoard was taken to London for valuation by the Treasure Valuation Committee. The figure was set at £40,650 and a fund raising campaign was launched to raise the sum. The target has been met as a result of generous grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£20,150) and V&A/Resource Purchase Grant Fund (£16,400) with local support from the Friends of Taunton Castle, Fred Clarke, the Chairman of Somerset County Council and James and Christine Hawkesworth. The hoard is now on display in the Somerset County Museum.
|
 |
Top of Page
|
