Gold coins, medieval treasures discovered in British backyards during lockdown
1630Boston
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New quarantine hobbies have unearthed new passions, some bringing with them a literal silver lining.
Gold coins, medieval treasures discovered in British backyards during lockdown
This year, backyard archaeologists in the United Kingdom have recorded discoveries of more than 47,000 objects, the British Museum announced this week.
Regular people found the vast majority of the historical artifacts by traversing the countryside with metal detectors, before adding or updating records through the museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The British Museum said the program also saw an uptick in people updating digital records of antiquities while the country was under a full lockdown between March 22 and May 13.
That database contains records of more than 1.5 million objects discovered since 1998 by the general public rather than by professional archaeologists.
"It is brilliant to see the scheme growing from strength to strength during lockdown thanks to garden discoveries and digital reporting," said UK Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage, in a news release.
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Not for nothing, but doesn't the math suggest that the uptick is modest at best?
The database contains 1.5 million entries since 1998 which is, I believe, when they changed the laws. So, assuming January 1st 1998 to December 31st 2020 is 23 years. That is an average of 65217 items per year.
"This year, backyard archaeologists in the United Kingdom have recorded discoveries of more than 47,000 objects, the British Museum announced this week."
"A new report from PAS shows some 81,602 objects added to the scheme in 2019, before the recent spate of lockdown treasure hunting, each of those items now coming under public ownership."
Why is 47,000 greater than 81,602????
It is amazing to find so many things at all. I have to admire the UK's approach to metal detecting and finds. While it's not finders keepers it does help to ensure things are recorded and preserved if significant. And not everything is split 50/50 with the crown.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Truly amazing. I found a 1953 Franklin half recently while I was watering the Orange grove. Compared to what people in England find my discovery really isn't much. Oh, well.
Agreed as we only have a fraction of history compared to the UK. But I’m pretty sure we can find more gold in the ground than they can.
One of those troves, which contained 50 South African solid gold coins, was unearthed in Milton Keynes, a town about 50 miles northwest of London.
It's a mystery how those coins, minted in the 1970s during South Africa's apartheid era, wound up buried in a British backyard after a half-century.
The other major coin hoard, which held 63 gold coins and one silver coin featuring monarchs Edward IV and Henry VIII, was likely buried in the 16th century. It included coins bearing the initials of several of Henry VIII's wives, including Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Nearly 500 years later during the Covid-19 pandemic, residents rediscovered them while weeding in their garden.
Another amateur find during the pandemic was an ancient Roman furniture fitting made of a copper alloy, and clearly featuring the face of the god Oceanus.
That artifact, found in Old Basing about 50 miles southeast of London, dates as far back as the 1st century.
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The thrill of finding such treasure must be incredible. I know how exciting it is to find a gold nugget. But that must pale in comparison to finding a trove of gold coins in one's garden. Cheers, RickO
It seems like the early occupiers of the UK loved to just throw their money around (pun intended) and bury it all over the place.
WS
It is very cool for them to be making these finds; and yes — it seems that they tend to lose a lot of things in England. If I remember correctly, they are up to about two kings’s tombs that have been lost under parking lots...
Actually, it was common throughout the ancient world to bury money. There were no banks in most of the world. That's where a lot of these hoards come from. A wealthy family would bury there accumulated coins in jars. Then war, enslavement or death...they stay buried.
The UK has about 2000 years of numismatic history before the invention of the savings bank. It would be so cool to uncover some of that.
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