14.10.2021 Fisherman finds coins that belonged to a soldier

Treasure hunter and fisherman Jason Hemmings (41) has discovered Roman coins believed to have been dropped by a soldier two thousand years ago. The Dorset man made the haul with a metal detector he bought from a friend for £300. In total he found fifteen bronze and silver coins.

The coins were examined by experts from the British Museum who described it as very exciting. The money was probably dropped by a soldier two thousand years ago. Back then, that kind of money would have bought eight loaves of bread.

The coins date back to the Roman and Iron Age. Hemming spends most of his free time fishing. He bought a metal detector just before he found the treasure. But he liked the search a lot, so he went looking for gold in a field in Owermoigne, Dorset, and came across fifteen coins that are believed to have been there for around two thousand years.

Forty-one-year-old Mr Hemmings started the hobby when he bought a detector for £300 from a friend who wanted to get a better model. "At first it looked like I wasn't going to find anything in the field in question. I went here and there, still nothing. Eventually I had to go home early on the first day. I had a Sunday roast waiting for me. But I came back the next day and did well. The detector started giving off faint, intermittent signals. So I started digging," Hemmings recalled.

When he discovered the coins, he followed the correct procedure and reported the find. It was immediately clear to the liaison officer that the finder had found something truly rare. Although the financial value of the coins is only a few hundred pounds, the historical value is very important.

British Museum expert Eleanor Ghey said the coins were probably dropped by a soldier at the time the Romans first came to the country. "These coins are likely to be close to the date of the conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They pinpoint almost exactly when the Romans were first in Britain. It's the first such collection we've acquired," Ghey rejoiced.

The depot contained three different currencies that were in circulation in Britain in the middle of the first century AD. They include, for example, large bronze coins of the Roman Emperor Claudius issued between 41 and 50 AD. The treasures, which can be confidently dated to the early years of Claudian conquest, are incredibly rare, according to experts at the British Museum.

Sources: www.dailymail.co.uk