Frome Hoard
Coins from the hoard
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| Material | Silver and bronze coins |
|---|---|
| Size | 52,503 coins |
| Created | early 4th century |
| Period/culture | Romano-British |
| Discovered | April 2010 Near Frome, Somerset, 51°13′41″N 2°16′55″W / 51.228°N 2.282°WCoordinates: 51°13′41″N 2°16′55″W / 51.228°N 2.282°W |
| Discovered by | Dave Crisp |
| Present location | Museum of Somerset, Taunton, England |
The Frome Hoard is a hoard of 52,503 Roman coins found in April 2010 by metal detectorist Dave Crisp near Frome in Somerset, England. The coins were contained in a ceramic pot 45 cm (18 in) in diameter, and date from AD 253 to 305. Most of the coins are made from debased silver or bronze. The hoard is one of the largest ever found in Britain, and is also important as it contains the largest group ever found of coins issued during the reign of Carausius, who ruled Britain independently from 286 to 293 and was the first Roman emperor to strike coins in Britain. The Museum of Somerset in Taunton, using a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), has acquired the hoard, officially valued at £320,250.
The hoard was discovered on 11 April 2010 while Crisp was metal detecting in a field near Frome where he had previously found late Roman silver coins. The late Roman coins, eventually totalling 62, were probably the remnants of a scattered hoard, 111 of which had been found on the same farm in 1867. Whilst searching for more coins from the scattered hoard he received what he called a "funny signal" and on digging down about 35 cm (14 in) he found a small radiate coin, and the top of a small pot. Realising that this must be an intact coin hoard he stopped digging and filled in the hole he had made.
On 15 April, Crisp notified Katie Hinds, the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer for Wiltshire, that he had found the hoard of coins. On 22 April Hinds, together with Anna Booth (Finds Liaison Officer for Somerset) and Alan Graham—an independent archaeologist contracted by Somerset County Council—visited the site to carry out an emergency excavation. The excavation, led by Graham and assisted by Hinds, Booth, Crisp and members of the landowner's family, was performed over three days, from 23 to 25 April.
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