"I was trembling when I unearthed it": a treasure trove of rare 11th-century coins found in England

Archaeologists in England have found a unique treasure that includes 321 rare silver coins. The find was discovered in perfect condition at the construction site of a nuclear power plant.

The coins were wrapped in cloth and lead. This suggests that the owner of the silver coins may have tried to protect them during the burial to avoid confiscation, LiveScience reports.

Archaeologists discovered the coin hoard during excavations on the Suffolk coast in eastern England, where construction of a new nuclear power plant called Sizewell C began in 2024. "I was shaking when I unearthed it. The information we are getting from this treasure is amazing," said archaeologist Andrew Pegg.

According to the researchers, some of the coins found come from small rural mints and are therefore quite rare, dating from between 1036 and 1044.

This means that they coincide with the beginning of the reign of the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor. Experts note that this was a turbulent period in English history during which the king expelled and confiscated the property of several members of the elite who fell out of favor with him.

Scientists emphasize that the value of the 11th-century coin hoard, which amounted to 320 pence, would have been a significant amount for most people at the time. This is enough to buy about 16 cows, said Alexander Bliss, a coin specialist at OCA (Oxford Cotswold Archaeology), the organization that unearthed the coins.

"Perhaps the owner of the treasure was concerned about the new regime or social instability. Therefore, he took measures to hide his wealth. There are three known treasuries in England from this period (1042-1044), which confirms the idea that the first years of King Edward's reign were not peaceful," Bliss added.

The expert also emphasized that Anglo-Saxon coin hoardings are relatively rare, and the discovered hoard stands out because archaeologists unearthed it with a preserved textile pouch.

"The preservation of the pouch was very important because it is part of the overall 'object' as one of the elements of holding the coins. We also wanted to understand whether the lead was just a piece of sheet or whether it was detached from a larger element," said Alexander Bliss.

The archaeologists opened the pouch in the laboratory and determined that the lead wrapper was made from a folded sheet, indicating that the owner of the treasure was careful when hiding it.

According to archaeological evidence, lead sheet was not an unusual way to store coins. So the choice of this material raises the question of why the owner didn't use, say, a pot instead. Perhaps he wanted to disguise the valuable contents, Bliss suggested.

According to experts, the owner of the treasure was probably a middle-class person, not a member of the elite or a person of national importance. He could have had local influence, so he was afraid of the consequences of regime change. This prompted him to bury the treasure after the coronation of Edward the Confessor.

It is unclear why the owner never took the coins. Researchers suggest that he could have been expelled from the country, where he could not return.

OBOZ.UA previously wrote that 2584 silver coins had been in the ground for almost 1000 years and were bought by an English trust for $5.6 million, making them the most expensive treasure ever found in the United Kingdom.

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