ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE 



them belonged to the close of the fourth century, about which time the 

 hoard was obviously deposited in its hiding-place. The gold coins in- 

 cluded issues of Valentinian I and II, Valens, Gratian, Theodosius and 

 Arcadius. The finder declared that in total they weighed 6 lb., and, 

 if we assume they resembled the ordinary gold coins of the period, 

 they must have numbered between 550 and 600 if the man reckoned by 

 avoirdupois, as a labourer would probably do, or between 450 and 500 

 if he reckoned by the troy weight usually employed for precious metals. 

 Canon Digby of OfFenham gave Mr. Allies an account of 255 of 

 these, but it has not survived. The gold coins are said to have been 

 in singularly good preservation and for the most part to have consisted 

 of very pure gold, but some were only plated copper. This last statement 

 may however be an error, for the gold coinage of the fourth century 

 was almost uniformly pure, and as its value depended largely on its 

 weight, forgeries were necessarily difficult. The silver coins of the hoard 

 included issues of Constantius II, Julian, Valens, Valentinian I, Gratian, 

 Magnus Maximus, Theodosius, and Honorius, with, according to Mr. 

 Allies, one coin of Vespasian. They were stated by the finder to 

 number about 3,000 ; of 832 Canon Digby gave Mr. Allies an account. 

 The silver coins were, it is said, much more worn than the gold, as 

 indeed one might expect. Mr. Allies and Mr. May add that the hoard 

 also comprised coins of Gordian, Valerian, Constantine, Valens and 

 Flavius Victor, but they do not mention the metals.^ Let me further 

 point out that at the Worcestershire Exhibition of 1882 the late Canon 

 A. H. Winnington Ingram, rector of Harvington near Cleeve Prior, 

 exhibited coins from the hoard and an object described in the 'Cata- 

 logue' (p. 53) as 'a Roman lady's bronze chatelaine found at Cleeve 

 Prior.' I do not know whether this had anything to do with the 

 hoard, nor can I discover what has since become either of the coins or 

 the ' chatelaine.' 



It would be unwise to speculate either on the former owner of 

 these coins or the cause of their burial. I will say only that it does 

 not seem to me absolutely necessary to refer even so large a hoard as 

 this to a lost public treasure or army chest. For the rest, the troubles 

 which fell upon Britain at the end of the fourth and beginning of the 

 fifth century afford not one but several possible reasons for the burial 

 and loss of hoards. To the numismatist, as distinct from the historian, 

 the interest of this hoard lies rather in its silver than its gold. Hoards 

 of the silver coins minted in the last half of the fourth century are 

 by no means common : only two or three instances are known in 

 Britain and hardly any on the continent. And if with these siliquce 

 (as they were called) of the late fourth century there were combined 

 silver coins of Vespasian and perhaps of Gordian and Valerian (if such 



* Berrow's Wore. Jountal, Oct. 31, 1811 ; Anhaoh^a, xviii. 329 ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1811 

 (ii.), 506 ; G. May, Hist, of Evesham (ed. 2), p. 244 ; Allies, p. 91 ; R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore. 

 Journal, June 27, 1891 ; Prattinton's MS. (vol. vii.) contains notes of fifty silver coins. I have made 

 extensive private inquiries, with little result. The site of the find is duly marked in the 6-inch 

 Ordnance Map (xliii. N.W.) half a mile due west of the village. 



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