Archaeologist finds a hoard of Iron Age and Roman coins, now auctioned for several million

748 gold and silver coins from the period between 206 BC and 47 AD, Sixty-three coins from the hoard have since been claimed by three museums and the remaining coins have now been sold at auction.

Thirty-four-year-old graduate archaeologist George Ridgway, from Ashbocking near Ipswich, said his childhood role model was the famous film adventurer: 'When I was four years old, my childhood hero Indiana Jones inspired me to start hunting for history. I dreamed of finding Roman treasure ever since my grandmother bought me a metal detector for my 12th birthday," said the current owner of the family butcher shop.

"It was an amazing moment when I realised I had just found one," he said, describing his first impressions of the discovery and explaining that he went to a field near his home to search on purpose. He knew that an old Roman road passed through the site. He was intrigued by a sharp "groove" in the field. But that he would find such a precious and actually a lifetime find in close proximity to it, he never dreamed.

"This is one of the largest hoards containing Iron Age and Roman coins found in Britain, with the most recent Claudius coins and the Cunobelin staters are virtually in the same condition as if they had just been struck," said Alice Cullen, numismatist at Noonans Mayfai Auctioneers. "The location of the hoard, together with the date range, suggests that the coins may have been deposited by a long-serving legionary soldier from the XXth Legion, which was based in nearby Colchester," she added.

"In 47 AD. the Celtic tribe of the Iceni revolted after the Roman governor Ostorius ordered them to disarm, resulting in theresulting in a fierce battle, probably fought at Stone's camp in Cambridgeshire, which the Romans won. It is possible that our treasure was hidden by the victims of this conflict," the numismatist suggested a possible interesting context. Along with the coins, a total of 35 fragments of the grey ceramic vessel in which the treasure was originally stored were discovered.

The assemblage included one gold aureus of Claudius I, 17 Iron Age gold coins (14 staters and 3 quarter staters of Cunobelinus (c. AD 10-40). Other coins consist of silver denarii (the oldest dated is a Republican Roman denarius minted c. 206-195 BC. A.D. and the youngest are two denarii of Emperor Claudius I from 46-47 A.D.) The set also included a denarius of Juba I, the Berber king of Numidia.

The British Museum, as well as museums in Colchester and Ipswich, expressed interest in 63 of the 748 coins. The remaining coins were offered at public auction. The highest bid was for a denarius of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus(Caligula) of 37-38 with a portrait of Agrippina, which sold for £7,000 (about 211,000 crowns). The second most expensive was a denarius of Claudius from 41-42, which was auctioned for £5,000 (about 151,000 crowns).

There was a great deal of interest in the auction, and the amount eventually exceeded the expected proceeds by almost 100 per cent. In total, the coins fetched £132,865 - about 4 million crowns, which, after deducting the auction company's commission, will be split 50-50 between the finder and the landowner.

The full coin set can be viewed here: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/970233

Roman Nemec

Sources: bbc.com, gazetteseries.co.uk, thetimes.com

• Roman Age finds found by metal detectors at Lovecpokladu.cz - Roman Age

Helmingham Hall - various coins from the hoard

Five-year-old George Ridgway in an Indiana Jones suit

George today