THE RACE is on to keep a major hoard of Roman coins discovered in Warwickshire in the county.
The hoard made up of 440 silver denarii coins was unearthed during an archaeological dig at a Roman site at Edge Hill in 2015. They were buried in a ceramic pot over 1900 years ago under the floor of a building.
It was the second hoard of denarii found in the area and contained 78 coins dating to AD 68-69, a turbulent time in Roman history known as the ‘Year of the Four Emperors’.
As with all finds of gold or silver of this date, the hoard was declared ‘treasure’ and has been with the British Museum for formal identification and valuation.
Warwickshire Museum now has four months to raise £62,000 to acquire the coins to display them at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick.
Applications have already been submitted for grants, and condition of the purchase is a minimum of £3,000 needs to be raised locally.
To help reach the target a fund-raising evening will be held at Market Hall Museum on Friday April 5.
For one night only the pot the coins were found in, together with some examples from the previous Roman hoard, will be on display, along with other Roman treasures found in Warwickshire.
Experts will also be on hand to answer questions about the coins.
During the evening a raffle and auction will be held with all proceeds going to the campaign, along with all profits from the tickets and the bar. Tickets cost £20, and are available by calling 01926 412500.
Donation boxes in Market Hall will be specially re-branded with all proceeds from March 1 to April 5 also going to the fund-raising drive.
County heritage spokesman Coun Dave Reilly said: “This is an amazingly important find for Warwickshire and our Roman past.
“Bringing the hoard back to the county and the Market Hall Museum will mean that Warwickshire’s residents can enjoy them for generations to come.
“The international significance of some of the coins in this hoard will increase visitors not only to Warwick, but the wider county, which can only contribute to our key objective of making the Warwickshire economy vibrant.”
Warwickshire Museum Service is also calling out to local businesses for prizes for the auction and raffle. Email
[email protected] for further details.
