Cunetio Hoard
{{short description|Roman hoard}}
{{for|the trove of Roman silverware found in Mildenhall, Suffolk|Mildenhall Treasure}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
__NOTOC__
The Cunetio Hoard, also known as the Mildenhall Hoard,Nigel Kerton, [http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/towns/marlboroughheadlines/4581733.C4_s_Time_Team_dig_in_at_Mildenhall/ C4's Time Team dig in at Mildenhall], at gazetteandherald.co.uk, Friday 4 September 2009 is the largest hoard of Roman coins found in Britain. It was discovered in 1978 at the site of the Roman town of Cunetio, near modern-day Mildenhall, Wiltshire, and consisted of 54,951 low value coins. The coins were contained in a large pot and a lead container.{{harvnb|Abdy|2002|pp=32–43}} The coins are now in the British Museum[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?place=35579&plaA=35579-3-1 British Museum Collection] and the pot is on display at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes.
Overview
Cunetio developed from a small settlement into an important economic market for the area, which is thought to explain the concentration of coins.{{cite web|last1=Nurse|first1=Keith|title=Late Roman Coin Hoards and Wansdyke|url=http://www.wansdyke21.org.uk/wansdyke/wanart/nurse3.htm|publisher=Wansdyke Project 21|accessdate=3 September 2016}} Excavation of a nearby well in 1912 uncovered 102 coins, possibly from another hoard.{{cite web|title=The Archaeology of Wiltshire's Towns An Extensive Urban Survey Cunetio|url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-906-1/dissemination/pdf/EUS_Texts/Cunetio.pdf|publisher=Wiltshire County Archaeology Service|accessdate=3 September 2016}} A smaller hoard had been found at this site in 1960.{{cite journal|first1=Sam|last1=Moorhead|first2=John|last2=Kent|title=Cunetio (1960) hoard|journal=Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine|volume=103|year=2010|pages=317–19}}
The 1978 hoard consisted of 54,951 coins weighing over {{convert|390|lb|kg|disp=flip}}.{{cite web|title=Roman Hungerford|url=http://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/index.php/10-themes/266-roman-hungerford|publisher=Hungerford Virtual Museum|accessdate=3 September 2016}} Most of the coins were low value Radiates,{{cite web|last1=Abdy|first1=Richard|last2=Ghey|first2=Eleanor|last3=Hughes|first3=Celine|last4=Lewis|first4=Ian|title=Coins Hoards from Roman Britain Volume XII|url=http://www.hisoma.mom.fr/numismatique/PDF/Mairat%20Chalgrove%20II-1.pdf|publisher=Collection Moneta|accessdate=3 September 2016}} however there were significant numbers of Antoniniani,{{cite book|last1=Manders|first1=Erika|title=Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193-284|date=2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004224001|page=54|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocwyAQAAQBAJ&q=Cunetio+Hoard+coins&pg=PA54}} some of which dated from the reign of Gallienus (253–268).{{cite web|title=Gallienus (August AD 253 - March AD 268)|url=http://www.time-lines.co.uk/gallienus-coins-22703-0.html|publisher=Timeline Originals|accessdate=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920022643/http://www.time-lines.co.uk/gallienus-coins-22703-0.html|archive-date=20 September 2016|url-status=dead}} The dates of the coins were between AD 250–275, however the majority are from the independent empire established in Gaul by Postumus in 260.{{cite web|title=The Cunetio Treasure |url=https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ancient_numismatic_enterprise/9/product/the_cunetio_treasure__roman_coinage_of_the_third_century_ad_by_e_besly_and_r_bland___ex_bruce_r_brace_library/437842/Default.aspx|publisher=Ancient Numismatic Enterprise|accessdate=3 September 2016}}{{cite web|title=Postumus Antoniniani, Cologne mint, Complete List|url=http://www.gallic-empire.com/postumusantcomplete.htm|publisher=Gallic Empire|accessdate=3 September 2016}} Larger hoards of Roman coins have been found at Misrata in Libya{{cite web |url=http://www.cnr.it/istituti/Banchedati.html?cds=098 |title=Tesoro monetale di Misurata (Libya) |publisher=Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche |accessdate=25 June 2010 |language=Italian |archive-date=11 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211185551/http://www.cnr.it/istituti/Banchedati.html?cds=098 |url-status=dead }} and are believed to have been found at Evreux in France (100,000 coins) and Komin, Croatia (300,000 coins); however, at the time of its discovery the Cunetio Hoard was by far the largest in Britain.
The site of the hoard and the wider settlement were surveyed and excavated for the Channel 4 television programme Time Team in 2009.{{cite web|title=Museum on Time Team this Sunday!|url=http://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news/index.php?Action=8&id=103&page=0|publisher=Wiltshire Museum|accessdate=3 September 2016}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{citation|last=Abdy|first=Richard Anthony|year=2002|title=Romano-British coin hoards|location=Princes Risborough|publisher=Shire|series=Shire archaeology, No. 82|isbn=978-0-7478-0532-8|postscript=.}}
- {{cite book|first1=Edward|last1=Besly|first2=Roger|last2=Bland|title=The Cunetio Treasure: Roman Coinage of the Third Century AD|location=London|publisher=British Museum Publications|year=1983|isbn=0-7141-0857-X}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hdPPgae84o Time Team episode on Cunetio] at YouTube
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Category:Treasure troves of late antiquity
Category:Treasure troves of Roman Britain
Category:1978 archaeological discoveries
Category:Treasure troves in England
Category:Metal detecting finds in England