Material Coins Period/culture Romano-British | Size 9,262 coins | |
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Discovered Shapwick, Somerset by Kevin and Martin Elliott in September 1998 Present location Somerset County Museum, Taunton Identification 1998–99 Fig 294.1–9; 2000 Fig 251 | ||
The Shapwick Hoard is a hoard of 9,262 Roman coins found at Shapwick, Somerset, England in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD. The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before, and the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Britain.
Contents
Discovery, excavation and valuation
The hoard was discovered by cousins Kevin and Martin Elliott, who were amateur metal detectorists, in a field at Shapwick. Excavation of the site found that it had been "buried in the corner of a room of a previously unknown Roman building" and, after further excavation and geophysical surveying, "revealed the room to be part of a courtyard villa".
Following a treasure inquest at Taunton, the hoard was declared treasure and valued at £265,000. Somerset County Museum Services acquired the hoard, with the aid of Somerset County Council, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and other organisations, and it is now displayed at the Museum of Somerset in the grounds of Taunton Castle.
An addendum to the discovery was filed in the Treasure Annual Report 2000 which added a further 23 coins, valued at £690, also found by Kevin and Martin Elliott.
Items discovered
Notable inclusions in the hoard were 260 coins from the reign of Mark Antony from 31–30 BC, with over half the coins being struck in the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211). There were also two rare coins not discovered in Britain before depicting Manlia Scantilla, the wife of Didius Julianus, an emperor who was murdered four weeks after the coins were struck. Non-Roman coins included were three Lycian drachmae and one drachma of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The latest coin struck was in 224 AD, and it is estimated that the hoard as a whole represented ten years' pay for a Roman legionary.
Other hoards
Shapwick has been the site of various hoard discoveries over the years, although the 1998 find was by far the largest.