UK treasure hunter finds 52,000 Roman coins

[asdjrocky]

LONDON – A treasure hunter has found about 52,500 Roman coins, one of the largest such discoveries ever in Britain, officials said Thursday.

The hoard, which was valued at 3.3 million pounds ($5 million), includes hundreds of coins bearing the image of Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who seized power in Britain and northern France in the late third century and proclaimed himself emperor.

Dave Crisp, a treasure hunter using a metal detector, located the coins in April in a field in southwestern England, according to the Somerset County Council and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The coins were buried in a large jar about a foot (30 centimeters) deep and weighed about 160 kilograms (350 pounds) in all.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100708/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_roman_coins

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. I think I'm more interested in the history than the coins.

Although if he wanbted to take me out on a date... :dilemma:

[jsamuel]

2. in the US, it belongs to the land owner

unless he got permission from the land owner to keep whatever he found

if it could belong to some decedent group, then they may have a claim

[WinkyDink]

10. The UK has its own laws.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

12. In the UK

The finder and the land owner (if there is one in this case) each get half of what the treasure is worth (if the treasure is worth 2 million, the finder gets 1 million and the landowner gets the other million). The guy who found the Staffordshire Hoard is one such example.

[proteus_lives]

3. I love finds like this.

Links to the past are always a good thing.

I wonder who buried such a hoard?

[Warpy]

5. Probably some of his guards at his order

before they were all killed off. People who proclaimed themselves alternative emperors didn't live all that long.

[Poll_Blind]

7. From what I've read most hoards are from "tribes" who were either...

...in a very large conflict which they felt they might lose or were in last days of being wiped out- or basically some other traumatic event- and they would bury the hoard to keep the "winners" from sacking it with the hope that if any of their tribe remained alive they could go dig it up at some later date.

If this hoard is just coins though (I just skimmed the article) then that might be a little different. Most of the hoards I've seen are basically a "tribe's" wealth so it's usually not just coins but jewelry, earrings, a jewel-encrusted sword hilt or dagger, silver belt buckles, that sort of thing.

I love the stories behind these hoards although I don't think I've ever read one which entailed something more than "Everyone was going to be killed. They knew it. They buried their treasure in a secret location."

Still, as someone I think mentioned upthread, the coins are nice but if they can reveal the story behind them...that's where the history comes alive.

PB

[proteus_lives]

11. My thoughts run a similar course.

Bury the hoard, run from the enemy and hopefully come back for it later.

[AngryAmish]

8. Romans, perhaps?

[dana_b]

4. well his hobby (or obsession) paid off

good for him!

Coins with Marcus Aurelius Carausius:

[asdjrocky]

6. Thanks for the pic!

[xchrom]

9. Recommend

[Generic Other]

13. It's Arthur's hoard!

the holy grail!

[pansypoo53219]

14. I so want a metal detector.

but i don't think WI has much cool stuff.

[starroute]

15. I think half of England spends their weekends out with metal detectors

Most of the finds aren't this big, but there seems to be something good enough to make the news every month or so.

Carausius, by the way, is one of the people sometimes described as the "real" King Arthur. That's more than a bit of an exaggeration -- the mythological aspects of the Arthur stories are clearly much older than that -- but his conquests in France do seem to have fed into legends about Arthur doing the same.

http://www.xpresspress.com/news/RomanOfficer_071509.html

The contos was a victory votive to the Romano Celtic war/sword god Mars Camulos and Carausius, who undoubtedly identified himself with this god, based on coins he minted and evidenced on the contos. The Roman settlement of Camulodunum (modern Colchester), named after Camulos, is widely thought to be the origin of Medieval writers’ Camelot.

Carausius strove to become a people’s hero of Britain and Northern Gaul when he rebelled against the co-Emperor Maximian, who ordered his execution after he was accused of keeping seized pirate booty. Backed by his Roman legions, he proclaimed himself another co-emperor. Three years later in 293 AD Carausius was assassinated by his finance minister.

The war/sword god Camulos’ primary center of Celtic worship was with the Remi, a Belgic tribe. Based on contos inscriptions Camulos appears to be connected to a previously unknown Belgic agricultural/fertility bear god of the northern constellations and its related symbols, including a pagan type grail cup, magical blade weapons, meteorites, magnetic north, and the seasons named Artor. The sword in the stone shown on the contos has a connection to an elite Roman Parazonium (ceremonial short sword).

According to Kenney, inscriptions show the primary aspect of Artor is a force associated with breaking through or beginnings, including spring and the dawn. Other artifacts show that this bear war/sword god in some form can be seen across ancient Europe and Asia as far east as ancient China, particularly in the northern regions.