ID
1675
Permalink
Hoard name
APPLEFORD
Data type
Hoard
Date of discovery (from)
31 Dec 1954
(to)
31 Dec 1954
Total number of coins
5752
Summary
During ploughing, a hoard of Roman coins was discovered between Sutton Courtenay and Appleford, about 50 yards south of the road. Two pots of coarse grey ware had been buried side by side a short distance below the surface; their rims, broken away by the plough, were missing.
Apart from a handful of earlier coins extending back to Gallienus, the enormous bulk of the hoard was made up of the issues of Constantine the Great and his sons from about AD 320-347. The latest coins were five examples of the FEL TEMP REPARATIO types of Constantius II and Constans, so that the hoard must have been buried within the few years before 350. Although the coins had been removed from their containers by the finder, it was evident from the metal stains that each pot had held different-sized coins. One contained over 1,650 Constantinian issues minted between 320 and 326. All but about 100 were from the London mint and were in very fine condition, with their silver coating often intact. Of the coins of London, those of Constantine II Caesar far outnumber those of Constantine I or Crispus. Among the remaining coins, nearly all the imperial mints (except Alexandria) were represented by occasional specimens.
The second pot contained nearly 4,000 coins, of which the great majority were issued after 335; GLORIA EXERCITVS (one standard) and VICTORIAE DD AVGGQ NN far outnumber any other reverse type, and the great majority were struck at the mint of Trier. The very thin representation of types struck between 326 and 335 (GLORIA EXERCITVS (2 standards), VRBS ROMA, CONSTANTINOPOLIS) is remarkable.
The owner, Mr F.G. Napper of Didcot, has placed the hoard on loan at the Ashmolean Museum, where a full analysis is being prepared.
Dr Cathy E. King received access to Dr Kraay's analysis of the 5752 coins. She combined the findings with a study of the imitations and a large number of official coins from the hoard, which are now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and catalogued the coins according to mints.
5,752 coins: Gallienus (sole)—Constantius II.
D. Brown noted that the Appleford hoard of coins was found at a point that must be about 200 yards (180 m) north of the gravel working area that produced the pewter.
A discussion exists on whether pot A, which contains the smaller, earlier part of the hoard, was buried before the larger, later part in pot B. If pot A was indeed buried before pot B, this would exemplify banking by burying, as the careful saver took note of the location of his first hoard to relocate and add to it twenty years later. The predominant sourcing of each hoard from a single mint suggests that the saver received his money in bulk rather than through saving, possibly as a gratuity or as pay.
