11TH CENTURY SILVER COIN HOARD FOUND

 

A hoard of coins dating back to the 11th Century has been found at the site of a future nuclear power station.

Oxford Cotswold Archaeology discovered a lead package containing 321 silver coins in mint condition during excavations at Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast.

The team believed the bundle of coins could have been the savings pot of a local figure, fearing regime changes following the coronation of Edward the Confessor in 1042.

Archaeologist Andrew Pegg said he was shaking when he found the coins.

The coins date between 1036 and 1044 during the reigns of Harold I, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor.

A large number of them were minted in London, but others were struck at locations including Thetford and Norwich in Norfolk, as well as more locally in Ipswich and further away in Lincoln and Stamford in Lincolnshire.

The archaeologists said it represented a substantial amount of money to most people of the time and likely belonged to someone of middle status, rather than anyone of very high status or national importance.

However, they do not know why the collection was never retrieved.

To read the complete article, see:
Hoard of 11th Century coins found at Sizewell C (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wl9re5j1qo)

See also:
Ancient silver coins unearthed by Oxford archaeologists (https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/24840946.ancient-silver-coins-unearthed-oxford-archaeologists/)

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