ROMAN COINS IN DERBYSHIRE. 219 



in my power to get more than 12 of them myself, tho' I offered 

 i2 d ' a piece for all y' any person would bring me, which were 

 legible. But I was too late, all or most of them being drained 

 out of y e country. 



Yet I remember on y e 28 th of Dec r ' 1748, having been at Swan- 

 wick and Alfreton, endeavouring to get some of these coins, one Mr. 

 Johnson, a travelling Scotch Pedlar, showed me about 200, most 

 of them legible, but not all. He would abate nothing of i2 d - a 

 piece for them; I (J. R.) bad him i2 d - a piece for as many as I 

 should pick out, but he refused, saying, they should all go 

 together, at y e same price ; so I did not buy them (tho' I (J. R ) 

 have several times repented since), as some were quite spoiled by 

 y e finders in endeavouring to cleanse them. 



N.B. — This was y e largest and most valuable collection of 

 Roman coins I ever yet heard of being found in Britain. 

 They were all Denarii and several of y e same Emperor's coins 

 (or medals), yet 1 do not remember to have seen any two 



alike, with respect to y r inscriptions and reverses 



And this I (J. R.) have frequently been told has been noticed 

 by others. 



Those I've seen are chiefly of y e Vespasiani, Trajan, Hadrianus, 

 Antoninus Pius, Faustina Augusta, Commodus, Sep 1 - Severus, 

 etc., but I do not remember seeing any of later date than y e 

 Emperor Septimius Severus, who died A.U.C. 965, which was 

 Anno D7' 219 . Some of these Coins were black and rather 

 corroded ; others only black, but not otherwise hurt. Some again 

 were quite bright as when they came from y e mint. I (J. R.) 

 asked Daniel Elliot (before mentioned) if he observed that when 

 they found them. He replyed y e Pot (meaning y e Urn ; for he 

 said it was shaped like a jug) was about half full of water, and all 

 those y' were in y e bottom, within y e water were bright, and y e 

 others (whether in y e Urn, or not) were black. 



The Ten which I (J. R.) have are as follows. 



I. is a coin of Trajanus, having on one side y e Emperor's head, 

 wreathed with Laurel, and this inscription, 



IMPTRAIANOAVGGERDACPMTRP. 



id est. 



