The Shropshire Hoard

The Shropshire Hoard

These coins, found in a farmer's field in England, are roughly 2,000 years old. The metal detectorists who unearthed them didn't follow the rules for reporting the find to the authorities. As for me, I have made it a lifelong endeavor to follow the rules... all the rules... whether they make sense or not. But these rogues evidently do not agree. They still haven't come forward. 

Most of the coins are attributed to a tribe known as the Dobunni (which sounds like Dubonnet... but that is another story).

Further Reading
BBC News. Mystery of Shropshire Iron Age coin hoard detectorists. May 22, 2019.
Pirani, Steve. How to Make a Gin and Dubonnet, the Queen's Favorite Cocktail. August 3, 2019.

New York Bank Vault Hoard

Someone stored 16,000 Morgan silver dollars in a bank safe deposit box (picture in article) in 1964. They weren’t hidden or forgotten - rather, the hoard was inherited and passed on hand to hand for decades. Now the family is tired of paying for storage, so the silver dollars are coming to market. 

Based on silver content alone, these are worth nearly $190,000 (16,000 x $15/oz x 0.77344 oz.), but some are in mint condition and will be worth much more than the silver value.

Further Reading 

Gilkes, Paul. Hoard of 16,000 Morgan silver dollars to be graded, marketed. Coin World. June 8, 2018.

The Chicago Hoard: Backyard Discovery

This fellow hid his his coin and currency collection, then slipped into dementia and forgot about it. Since his death, his son has found portions of the collection all over the place: in the fireplace, under the front porch and buried in the back yard.

Family finds holdered 1876 Proof set buried in yard

Graders at CSNS authenticate eight-coin assemblage worth thousands of dollars

Coin World, May 4, 2018

Roman Gold: The Norfolk Hoard

A husband-and-wife metal detectorist team recently found nearly 60 Roman coins buried in a farmer’s field in Norfolk. Six of them are gold and date to between 4 BC and 7 AD. 

Link

Norwich couple unearth valuable Roman coin hoard on Norfolk farm

Eastern Daily Press, March 22, 2018

The Vianen Hoard

This hoard of about 500 gold and sliver coins was discovered by waterworks employees during excavation work in Holland:

15TH CENTURY POT OF GOLD FOUND DURING EXCAVATION NEAR DUTCH CITY

NL Times, March 1, 2018

courtesy of NL Times

The Cridling Stubbs Hoard

Now in display at Leeds City Museum, this hoard of copper coins lay buried in a Yorkshire field for over 1,600 years. Experts believe it may have been hidden around 346 AD to keep it safe from Irish and Saxon raiders.

Copper load of this! Ancient coin stash at Leeds City Museum 

Yorkshire Evening Post, February 1, 2018

The Cluny Hoard

It's been a big week for those interested in buried treasure. The latest issue of Coin World magazine reports two significant finds.

In France, archaeologists have discovered a huge hoard of about 2,200 silver and gold coins while excavating the ruins of an abbey. They were probably left there about 850 years ago.

The Cluny Hoard

And in England, a metal detectorist found a gold coin from the reign of Richard III. It was buried  about 16 inches below the surface in a farmer's field in Warwickshire. Richard III reigned from 1483 to 1485, so the coin may have been there for over 500 years.

The Warwickshire find is especially intriguing for two reasons. It was discovered a few miles from Bosworth Field, where Richard fought Henry Tudor and died in the battle described in Shakespeare's Richard III ("My kingdom for a horse").  And the fact that it came to light in Warwickshire has special significance for me, because two of my ancestors were born there around 1650.

Coin of Richard III

Medieval Hoard of Coins Found in France at Abbey of Cluny - Coin World, Dec. 4, 2017

Detectorist Finds Rare Richard III Gold Half Angel Coin - Coin World, Dec. 4, 2017

Vero Beach Shipwreck Gold

Treasure hunters are still finding gold coins from a Spanish fleet that sank off Vero Beach, Florida in 1715. The most recent discoveries: over 200 coins recovered about 100 feet offshore, in only six feet of water.

Link:

Recently salvaged shipwreck gold from 1715 Plate Fleet reaches market

Coin World, October 7, 2016

Elusive Polish Treasure Train

According to this story in The New Yorker, there is a culture of treasure hunting in southwest Poland. With good reason: they keep finding abandoned tunnels.  

The Nazi Underground: Is treasure hidden beneath the mountains of Poland?

by Jake Halpern

The New Yorker, May 9, 2016

"Starting in 1943, the Nazis began building a series of underground bunkers beneath the Góry Sowie, or Owl Mountains, in Lower Silesia. All told, there were seven facilities...Historians believe that the Nazis intended to connect these facilities with tunnels; and some treasure hunters...insist that the tunnels were completed and then sealed off by the German military in the last days of the war. The problem with the tunnels, from the treasure hunters' point of view, is that they present a seemingly endless number of possibilities. Each new passageway, even if it is empty or a dead end, leads to a spot where another passageway may start." 

The Watlington Hoard

Selected items from the Watlington Hoard

Probably buried over 1,000 years ago, this coin hoard was discovered in a farmer's field in Oxfordshire, England. It includes over 180 coins from the reigns of Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ceolwulf II, last king of Mercia, as well as arm rings and ingots. The hoard has the potential to shed new light on the history of the period when Alfred defeated the Vikings and united Wessex and Mercia to form England, according to this article in Coin World magazine (April 27, 2016).

Hidden Hoard of Hazelnuts

Life became more difficult recently when a phrase from an old British TV advertisement popped into my mind, interrupting my train of thought and ruining my day.

The phrase: "hidden hoard of hazelnuts." It was a pitch for an English candy bar, making the rounds on ITV in the last 1960s. But which candy bar?  Not Bounty; not Milky Bar, Cadbury's Flake, or Fry's Crunchie. From out of the past this question haunts me. 

Readers of this blog (if are there any) know, or should know, that my interest in hoards is limited to coins, treasure, pirate gold and the like. But this hidden hoard of hazelnuts thing is a horse of a different color. I have searched here (UK Television Ads, 1955 - 1990) and here (CTVA UK - TV), and elsewhere, all to no avail. I welcome assistance from all quarters in untangling this mystery.

The Reading Hoard

Archaeologists recently found about 300 Roman coins buried on the grounds of a school in Reading, England. These intrepid explorers came upon the hoard while inspecting the area in advance of a construction project. Buried in a pottery urn, they were. 


This find would have been much more interesting had it been made by daring schoolboys, sneaking out in the dead of night to dig holes all over the school property. Were there no school legends of buried treasure on the property, guarded by spiders and grinning skeletons? My own school had such tales. Older boys whispered of a Playboy magazine and a pack of cigarettes hidden in a paint can in our school basement. I actually searched for them.    

Roman Coins Discovered Buried at The Ridgeway Primary School 

May 11, 2015

Man Finds Hidden Treasure

This hoard was concealed in a secret compartment in a chest of drawers. How long had the treasure been hidden there? That's anyone's guess, but the dresser itself is thought to date to 1890. The lucky guy bought it for $100 at an estate sale.  

Texas Man Finds Treasure Hidden in Chest
Good Morning America, May 12, 2015

The Caesarea (Israel) Hoard

Amateur divers recently found nearly 2,000 coins from the 11^th century in this ancient harbor in Israel:

Link:

Israel's largest-ever gold hoard discovery reported at ancient harbor

Coin World, March 9, 2015

Despite being underwater for nearly 1,000 years, the coins didn't need cleaning or conservation. That's gold, brother. It resists corrosion and tarnish. 

Discovered in Caesarea National Park, Israel

But let us be honest. And precise. This is not a hoard. Proper hoards are accumulated by eccentrics, gathered  obsessively, guarded jealously in secrecy for years. Hoards are hidden. They are bricked up in walls, hidden beneath false floors, and stashed in chests in the basements of derelict houses, as in The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (Mickey Mouse Club, 1956).

In contrast, the Caesarea discovery is the result of a mere natural disaster. This is shipwreck gold. Nevertheless, I would like to find 2,000 gold coins. Hoard, shipwreck, or otherwise, sack of gold lying in the middle of the street... it makes no difference to me.

The Charleroi Hoard

Construction workers found about $60,000 in small bills hidden inside a wall while remodeling an old house. The house, built in 1910, is typical of many homes of similar vintage which one finds in the Pittsburgh area.

Link:

Judge dismisses criminal charges filed against four who found $60K

Observer-Reporter, Green County PA, 12/30/14

The Aylesbury Hoard

Treasure hunters in England have unearthed a hoard of over 5,000 coins from the Dark Ages in a farmer's field near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. One of the largest hoards of Anglo-Saxon coins ever found in Britain, it includes coins from the reigns of Ethelred the Unready (978-1016 AD) and Canute (1016-1035 AD). 

Link:

Amateur treasure hunter's £1m find of Anglo Saxon coins

Daily Telegraph, January 1, 2015

The Dumfriesshire Hoard

A treasure hunter with a metal detector has unearthed a hoard of Viking gold and silver, one of the most significant ever discovered in Scotland.  This haul includes a gold cross (photo below), armbands and brooches. Estimated value: 1 million pounds sterling. 

As you can see in the video included in the excellent BBC story (link below), the lucky fellow who found it looks like a stereotypical Scottish hard man. With his burly, broken-nosed air of bald-headed  menace, this guy could easily pass for a Glaswegian knee-breaker in a novel by Denise Mina or Ian Rankin. He also resembles Phil Mitchell on Eastenders and Mike Tindall, Zara Phillips' rugby-playing husband.     

Links:

Viking treasure haul unearthed in Scotland - BBC News, October 12, 2014

1000-year old Viking treasure hoard found in Scotland - Reuters

Dumfriesshire Hoard - Wikipedia

Cross, circa 900 AD, from the Dumfriesshire Hoard.

There also exists a Dumfriesshire Hound. But that is another story. 

The Seaton Down Hoard

A treasure hunter discovered 22,000 Roman coins in Devon.  "Initially, I found two small coins the size of a thumbnail sitting on top of the ground. The next shovel was full of coins – they just spilled out over the field."

Link: 

Treasure hunter guards biggest find of Roman coins by sleeping in his car

Daily Telegraph, 9/26/14 

Coin Hoard in Old House

Someone cleaning out an old house in England found a "junk box" containing coins.

Most were worthless, but one turned out to be a 1793 cent worth over $41,000.

Link:  

Cent Found in Junk Box Becomes Auction Bonanza

Coin World, July 4, 2014

The Staffordshire Hoard

Discovered in 2009, this is considered to be one of the most important hoards ever found. 

Link: 

Anglo-Saxon hoard revealed: 4,000 pieces of stunning handcrafted treasure

Daily Mail, June 30, 2014