ROMANO-BRITISH NORFOLK 



alphabetical summary permits, and we may therefore briefly describe 

 them in this section before giving the actual summary. One such is 

 the hoard of ' Third Brass ' coins of the third century which was found 

 in June, 1878, at Baconsthorpe, three miles south-east of Holt. Roman 

 remains which may possibly indicate a dwelling have been noticed near 

 Baconsthorpe Hall, as we have already observed above (p. 297). The 

 hoard was found in ploughing, about half a mile east of the Hall. It 

 was contained in a largish urn, said to have been 14 inches high and 

 36 inches in circumference, and it consisted of about 17,000 coins 

 varying in date from Gordian III. (a.d. 238) to Aurelian (270—275), 

 but also including a very few earlier than Gordian. Putting together 

 the notices of the hoard which have been published, we find that in 3,736 

 recorded coins the following Emperors are represented : — 



The hoard is a variety of a type common in Britain and North 

 Gaul, the instances of which seem to have been lost or buried soon 

 after the accession of Aurelian. We may perhaps connect them with 

 the troublous condition of the times, and in particular the struggle 

 between Aurelian and his rival Tetricus, who held Britain and northern 

 Gaul till Aurelian overthrew him in 274. In its composition the 

 Baconsthorpe hoard seems to resemble other hoards of the same type, 

 but as only a quarter of its coins have been examined, it is difficult to 

 judge of this in detail. We may however wonder at the presence of a 

 coin of Nerva and the absence of the issues of Tetricus. The size of the 

 hoard has caused some astonishment, and it has been supposed to 

 represent military or other public treasure. But large hoards are not so 

 uncommon that we need necessarily adopt this explanation, and in some 

 cases of very large hoards of which we have details, we may be certain 

 that we are dealing with private accumulations. It should be re- 

 membered that the value of ' Third Brass ' coins at the end of the third 

 century was very small, and one gold piece was probably equivalent to 

 many hundreds or even thousands of them.' 



Another interesting hoard, not of coins but of bronze objects and 

 ornaments, was found in 1844 in a sandhill, on ground which used to 

 be part of Stow Heath, at Felmingham, between Aylsham and North 

 Walsham. Labourers, we are told, were carting sand away from the hill 

 when the soil caved in and exposed to view two urns, one inverted over the 



"^ Archaohgical Journal, xxxviii. 433 ; l<lorfolk Archeology, ix. 25 ; Numismatic Chronicle, xx. (1880) 

 75 ; Norwich Museum has 500 of the coins, and about 8,000-9,000 are said to have come into the 

 hands of Mr. J. T. Mott, the landowner. For similar hoards see Mommsen's Histoire de la Monnaie 

 romaine (ed. Blacas), iii. 1 1 2 foil., and Blanchet's Tresors da Monnoies romaines en Gaule. The value of 

 ' Third Brass ' about 260-300 a. d. is, for many reasons, impossible to calculate exactly. But see Momm- 

 sen's Hermes, xxv. pp. 26 foil. 



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