Collecting Roman Coins
If you have ever dreamed of collecting Roman coins, then you will surely be jealous of an Englishman this month. The actual discovery of 52,500 old Roman coins was made in April of this year, but the official announcement was held off until they knew exactly what they had.
What actually took place was the dream of every coin collector and anyone that has the hobby of metal detecting, as Dave Crisp does. Dave is the man that was using a metal detector in a field in the southwestern part of England, near Frome, Somerset.
At first, only 21 coins were found, but this was just the start of the discovery. Upon digging down some more, Dave found a pot full of old Roman coins. Knowing the historical significance of the find, he contacted the archaeologist from the Somerset County Council.
With professional help, a food storage pot was unearthed that contained nearly 350 pounds of ancient Roman coins. To date, this is the single, largest find in a pot, and the second largest find in the UK of all time.
All of the coins date from 253 AD to 293 AD and were minted in England by the Roman Empire during the reign of Marcuse Aurelilius Carausius, who ruled England from 286 Ad to 293 Ad.
The coins were made of silver and bronze. This is more evidence why coin collecting should include coins made of more than just gold.
The reason the coins were buried is unknown. There is speculation it was a gift to the Roman gods or for safe keeping against being stolen during an invasion. For whatever reason, they remained buried until 2010. They laid buried there for 1,717 years undiscovered.
Collecting Roman coins from this hoard might be permitted. But a decision on whether this find is subject to the Treasury Act of 1996 is being held on July 22, 2010. After that, they might be for sale.
For additional resources on coins, please see US Mint Direct Ship Program. This site and all of its contributors strive to bring you the most accurate information available. If you have any comments to help us improve our site, please leave them. Thank you for visiting.
Tags: Coin Collecting, investing, money, Roman coins
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Comments (1)
February 20th, 2011 at 2:53 am
It’s like winning the jackpot! Haha!