Coventina's Fountain, by the Rev. J. C. Bruce, LL.D. 365 



It may be well, by way of example, to give the inscription on 

 one of these, which is shown on the opposite page, referring 

 those who wish for further information, to Mr Clayton's paper, 

 which will soon appear in the Archceologia JEliana. 



deae . sanc Dese sanctee 



covontine* Coventinse 



vincentivs Vincentius 



pro salvte sva pro salute sua 



v . l . l . m . d votum libens hetus merito dicavit 



Vincentius has, for his own welfare, dedicated this offering to the 

 holy goddess Ooventina willingly, gladly, and to a most deserv- 

 ing object. 



"We next come to the consideration of the coins which were 

 found in the well. So vast a mass of Roman money has not be- 

 fore been found at once in England. The coins were mostly of 

 the kind called first and second brass. Excepting those im- 

 bedded in the mass of clay, they were nearly all thickly coated 

 with a crust of the oxyde of .copper. Many of these copper coins 

 having lain for several centuries in contact with pieces of iron 

 or silver denarii, had become highly corroded by galvanic action. 

 Very many of the coins had, by being long in circulation, before 

 being deposited in the well, become smooth ; the image and 

 superscription which had been enstamped upon them having 

 been nearly or entirely obliterated. Though not noticed at the 

 time there were a great many very small and rude copper coins 

 called minimi thrown out with the mud. In addition to the bronze 

 coins there were, as has been already stated, four gold coins 

 found and a number of silver. These silver coins or denarii 

 being for the most part a good deal corroded could not easily be 

 detected ; and many of them came into the hands of the numer- 

 ous persons who, for weeks together, crowded the spot, and care- 

 fully sifted the earth which had been thrown out of the well. 



Besides the coins which were in this manner, and with the 

 consent of the owner of the soil, variously appropriated, a con- 

 siderable mass of all sorts were taken away without his know- 

 ledge. On the Sunday after the treasure had been discovered, 

 and before much of it had been removed, a number of persons 

 took possession of the well, which it had not been thought 



* In this instance the name of the nymph is spelled " Covontina," the 

 more usual way being " Coventina." 



