MARTOCK

Download CSV:

Location

City

Martock (Parish)

Address

South Somerset (District)

County

Somerset

Region

South West

Country

England, United Kingdom

Lat/Long/Alt

50.985857 / -2.7706862 / 27.4 view

Location details

Approximate find spot (4-figure grid reference)

Find spot comment

Location displays approximate coordinates centred on four figure grid reference.

Information

1879

Permalink

https://chre.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/hoard/1879

Hoard name

MARTOCK

Data type

Hoard

Date of discovery (from)

21 Jul 2012

(to)

21 Jul 2012

Total number of coins

425

Summary

On 21 July 2012, two groups of Roman coins were discovered on ploughed farmland near Martock, Somerset. The finders excavated the groups at the time of their discovery and subsequently reported them to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The coins (418 coins) from the two groups were bagged together and mixed before being handed in and so are catalogued together. The PAS and Somerset County Council Historic Environment Service were able to arrange re-excavation of the findspot. The subsequent archaeological excavation recovered seven further coins (one a fragment) from the soil around the original deposition and some pottery sherds. The seven coins are all of similar types and date to the main groups and are likely to be associated. The excavation and examination of the pottery retrieved by the finders suggested the main group was contained in a ceramic jar probably covered by an upturned bowl. The top of the main group had almost certainly been hit by the plough at some point, damaging the pots and possibly scattering a few coins as well as leaving a clear plough scar in the adjacent ditch fill. The lack of a wide scatter of coins around the hoard, and the low number of broken coins, suggests the coins were mostly unaffected by this damage. The finders reported that the larger group was covered by pieces of sandstone when found, with a large piece of local blue lias adjacent. They reported that the coins were not held in the pot, which was broken, but were coming up in groups and rouleaux of 5-6 coins. The hoard or hoards had been buried within a ditch filled with occupation debris, including a range of pottery. Undisturbed ditch fill between the two holes made by the finders and their report of the position of the stones suggest the two groups of coins were originally buried separately rather than the smaller group simply being the upper part of the main group turned over by the plough. The narrow date range of all the coins does not rule out the two groups being buried at the same time, and the placement certainly suggests the burial of one group was informed by the placement of the other. The coins date to between AD 317-330, and the coins are a standard base metal denomination known as a nummus (pl. nummi). The coins can be grouped into two main periods: AD 317-24 was dominated by two personalities: Constantine I (AD 306-337) and his rival Licinius I (AD 308-24). Following the latter's defeat, the second period, AD 324-330, falls within the reign of Constantine as sole senior emperor, together with his sons holding the rank of Caesar (junior emperors). The final coin was produced between AD 327 and 328. The great majority of the coins (94%) date from AD 318 to 324. The exclusion of any earlier coins is typical of hoards of this period. The absence of later types (such as the very common Gloria Exercitus with two standards) suggests that the coins were deposited before AD 330-331.

Details
Coins Summary
Coins
Rating
Archaeological context
Containers
Objects
References
Reports
Images
Credit

Discovery method

Metal detector
Land Use

Cultivated Land
Disposition

Returned to finder; Silburry Coins; British Museum (some types)
Finder(s)

Matthew and Paul Perry
Closing reign (earliest)

Constantine I (RIC VII)
Terminal year (earliest)

327
Closing reign (latest)

Constantine I (RIC VII)
Terminal year (latest)

328
Opening year (earliest)

317
Opening year (latest)

317
Coin-level data

Not available

Fetching coin data

Numismatic rating

Excellent
Findspot rating

Excellent

Containers belonging to this hoard

Ceramic vessel

The top of the black burnished ware jar is covered by a similar fabric dish. Both are very common vessels in the area and contemporaneous with the coins. This is the same burial arrangement found in the earlier Frome Hoard.

Permalink in other online databases

Reference

The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS)

Ref

https://finds.org.uk/database/hoards/record/id/1798

Comment

Ghey, E (2015) IARCH-7B35B7

References

Reference

Abdy, R. et al. - 2014 - Coin hoards from the British Isles 2014

Ref

255, no. 40

Record created by J. Mairat. IARCH dataset, AHRC funded University of Leicester and British Museum project. Imported and edited by M. Spoerri (June 2019 / Nov. 2024). Updated by C. Gazdac (Aug. 2025).

Coin Hoards
of the Roman Empire

MARTOCK

Data not added to the map

Containers belonging to this hoard

Ceramic vessel

The top of the black burnished ware jar is covered by a similar fabric dish. Both are very common vessels in the area and contemporaneous with the coins. This is the same burial arrangement found in the earlier Frome Hoard.

Permalink in other online databases

References

Coin Hoardsof the Roman Empire

MARTOCK

Data not added to the map

Containers belonging to this hoard

Ceramic vessel

The top of the black burnished ware jar is covered by a similar fabric dish. Both are very common vessels in the area and contemporaneous with the coins. This is the same burial arrangement found in the earlier Frome Hoard.

Permalink in other online databases

References

Twitter

Facebook

Coin Hoards
of the Roman Empire