Well Done Shungav 'Toenail Hoard' of 500 coin clippings found in Forest of Dean

[Neil]

Well done Shungav on your latest hoard - as I said to you when you showed me a picture, this one will make you famous! Congratulations!



Toenail Hoard, Forest of Dean. GloucestershireImage copyright Gavin Warren BBC News online
 

Hundreds of 16th Century coin clippings have been discovered in a Gloucestershire field.

The 500 silver clippings, dubbed the Toenail Hoard, were unearthed by Gavin Warren using a metal detector in the Forest of Dean.

Shaved from the edges of coins dating back to 1560, the precious metal would have been melted down and sold.

Finds liaison officer Kurt Adams said: "Forty to 60 clippings is normal - one of this size is very, very rare."

Mr Warren - who unearthed the Yorkley Roman coin hoard in 2012 - said he was testing out a "beginner's metal detector" in a field, when he made the discovery.




"It was about four inches down, all in a big ball - we thought it was pieces of fencing until I spotted the words James I and Elizabeth I," he said.

"There were about 500 clippings - like pig tails - ranging from half crowns right down to pennies, all silver."


Toenail Hoard, Forest of Dean. Gloucestershire
Image caption
The earliest clippings date from the 1560s to 1570s and the latest from 1645

With hanging literally too good for those caught clipping the edges off silver coins in the 17th Century, Mr Warren said whoever buried the hoard had been risking their life.

"For women the punishment was being burnt at the stake, for a bloke it was being hung, drawn and quartered," he said.

"It would have been a lot to have been caught with."

Mr Adams, from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said the hoard, currently being catalogued at the British Museum, was not only "one of the biggest" but a "fantastic bit of social history".

"The earliest clippings date from the reign of Elizabeth I, so 1560s to 1570s, and the latest from 1645," he said.

"It showed people were defrauding the Mint when it was enormously important that coins weren't tampered with in any way - so it's an incredibly rare find."

[Val Beechey]

Blooming heck,  what a find.  That takes coin clipping to an industrial level.  There was me imagining a poor little peasant knocking little bits off a couple of coins.  That must have been the equivalent to organised crime back then.

Well found Gav. Incredible find.

p.s.  Thanks for posting Neil 

[wagis]

what a fantastic find and fascinating bit of history, well done

[hotmill]

Interesting find, well done!

[nobby]

awsome!! well done shung

[jcb (THE THIMBLE) jones]

  wow what an unusual find well done shungav

[nobby]

Its not that unusual......I found some in the bed the other day

[dingdong]

Well found Shungove,I bet that put a big smile on your face !!
No need for a "CHEER-UP-A- DIST!!!then,that sure ain't no mean (feat),for !! Upon my Sole !!!,well you certainly know yet (B)unnions !!!
Come on someone,think of another one..........QUICK !!!👍

[nobby]

how about "put a sock in it"

[dingdong]

Ok

[Custard]

All these remarks are far too Corny to comment on. 

[dingdong]

Hey Custard,that remark is a bit Callous!!LOL!!!👍 

[Greg]

No I'm not joining in, I'll only put my foot in it.

[dingdong]

OK...TOE(k)NEE!!!👍

[jaydogg]

Good post Neil. This capital crime must have been endemic in times past.