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Local Metal
Detector
Enthusiast Uncovers
A Hoard of Medieval
Silver Coins... |
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Above, the
obverse of one of the silver groats, showing the head of King
Edward III (1327 - 1377). It is enclosed in an ornamental frame
of nine small arches. The legend from the top in a clockwise direction
reads: "Edward D. G. Rex Angl. z. France. D. Hyb.".
Top right, the reverse. The plain cross extends to the edge, with
three pellets in the angles. The legend in the inner circle reads:
"London Civitas", around the outside: "Posui Deum Adjutorem Meum". |
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Local metal
detector enthusiast, Sean Flook, discovered a hoard of over thirty
medieval silver coins in the Caerleon area. You
might call him lucky, considering he had only been detecting four
months - but he says luck had nothing to do with it. "I do
my research thoroughly," he told me. "Aerial photographs,
old maps … local knowledge. And I have a top of the range detector,
a Minelab Explorer XS. This is a superb instrument, it discriminates
between different metals and I've detected coins up to a depth
of 45 centimetres. I work systematically and put in all the hours
I can."
The hoard was found in Ultra Pontem, Caerleon. In olden times
this lay on the main route into Caerleon from the South and East
via the old wooden bridge, which spanned the River Usk by the
Hanbury Arms. "Ultra Pontem" literally means "beyond
the bridge" and there is evidence that it has been inhabited
continuously since Roman times. Nowadays traffic bypasses "The
Village" along New Road, built some time in the early 1800s. |
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The coins
were handed in to the Roman Legionary Museum, Caerleon, and the
discovery reported to the coroner. They included: |
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Richard
II (1377 - 1399)
silver groat |
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The exact
location of the discovery is a carefully kept secret, but Sean
is confident all the coins have been unearthed. "The amount
of ground I shifted, I could have done with a JCB," he said.
It is interesting to speculate how and why the coins ended up
where they were found. They mostly date from the 14th century, the most recent being 1399 at the latest. Now, the early
1400s were a turbulent time in Wales. Owain Glyndwr (supposedly
a descendant of a long line of British kings) led a successful
rebellion against the English/Norman Lords. The insurrection started
in North Wales, and in the summer of 1402 Glyndwr's army burst
into Gwent. According to "Adam of Usk" Owain captured
the castles at Usk, Caerleon and Newport and burned the towns
to the ground. Owen's arrival in Caerleon must have been nervously
anticipated, and could easily explain why the coins were buried.
What became of their owner we can only guess.
For whatever reason the coins ended up where they were, there
they lay for 600 years, until Sean discovered them. |
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Update
The Department of Archaeology & Numismatics of the National
Museums & Galleries of Wales consider the Owain Glyndwr association
unlikely for the following reasons:
"… all of the groats
have been clipped to the 60-grain weight standard, which replaced
the earlier 80-grain standard in 1412. (Coins of Henry IV and
V are relatively scarce, so their absence need not surprise.)
The group is therefore likely to belong to the period c. 1412
- 1422, since it lacks the early issues of Henry VI, which are
very common and might be expected in a later assemblage. What
we appear to have is a sample of circulating currency of the second
decade of the fifteenth century, hidden or accidentally lost." |
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