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The English Bicknor, Gloucestershire Hoard of Antoniniani. Fourteen hundred eighty-five (1485) Antoniniani. Includes: Valerian (3) // Gallienus (151) // Salonina (15) // Claudius II (109) // Divus Claudius II (13) // Quintillus (8) // Aurelian (2) // Postumus (17) // Marius (3) // Victorinus (278) // Tetricus I (532) // Tetricus II (257) Uncertain Gallic empire (52) // Uncertain emperor (including fragments) 23 // Irregular (22). Hoard recorded as PAS Ref: GLO-756722 and BM 2018 T124. Fair to Fine. Fourteen hundred eighty-five (1485) coins in lot. The complete contents of the hoard, save for a single Antoninianus of Gallienus that was retained by The British Museum. A report including a detailed catalog of the hoard is available upon request.
Found in English Bicknor, Gloucestershire, January 2018.
On January 7, 2018, an English metal detectorist hit upon a strong signal while combing a grassland divided by an old rubble boundary wall near the tiny hamlet of English Bicknor, population 408, in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. As he continued along the wall, his detector gave off more beeps. He began digging into the soft, loamy earth and, about a meter down, began encountering Roman coins, singly and in clusters of two to eight pieces. Within a few minutes he dug a trench about two meters long and had found about 650 coins in total before he stopped and contacted the Finds Liaison Officer for the county, Kurt Adams. Over the next two days, Adams and a local team conducted an emergency excavation that turned up approximately another 750 coins, and scattered finds in subsequent days brought the total count to 1,486 coins. Curiously, no sign of any container or vessel was ever found; according to the excavation report, “as if someone has taken several handfuls of coins and scattered them in the soil.” Nearly all of the coins turned up on the western side of the rubble wall’s stone base, indicating the structure dated back the Roman era. The site was in the vicinity of several iron mines, known to have been worked in Ancient times.
The English Bicknor, Gloucestershire Hoard of coins was brought to the British Museum in May of 2018 and spent several months undergoing conservation and analysis under the supervision of the BM’s Eleanor Ghey. All coins were base silver Antoniniani – also termed radiates – dating to the mid-third century AD, a chaotic time for Roman Britain and the rest of the empire. The earliest coins were struck by Valerian I (AD 253-259) and his son Gallienus (AD 253-268); the vast majority dated to the breakaway Gallo-Roman Empire that ruled Spain, Gaul, Roman Germany and Britain for about 15 years, AD 259-274. There were also a handful of barbarous issues, counterfeits, and coins too poorly struck or worn to identify.
After the controlled excavation and detailed analysis, a Treasure inquest under the UK’s Portable Antiquities Scheme determined the coins could be turned back over to the finders and the landowner, with the British Museum retaining one coin from the hoard for its own collection.
The English Bicknor, Gloucestershire Hoard is being offered herein complete and intact, save for the one piece retained by the British Museum. It represents an extremely rare opportunity to acquire a complete hoard of Roman coins traced directly to its find spot, properly recorded and documented, with the full consent and approval of the British authorities. The winning bidder will also receive a complete copy of the excavation report, which identifies each coin by ruler, reverse type, and RIC number.
The final winners of all CNG 120 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 11-12 May 2022. CNG 120 – Session Three – Roman Republican and Imperatorial Coinage through Early Medieval and Islamic Coinage will be held Thursday morning, 12 May 2022 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 22.50% for all others.
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