Mystery of Shropshire Iron Age coin hoard detectorists

[Neil]

22 May 2019

Mystery surrounds the identity of two men who found a hoard of gold and silver Iron Age coins in Shropshire.

The find was reported by a landowner in the Teme Valley, who said he was given 19 coins by two metal dectorists he had allowed to search his land.

Fifteen have been declared treasure. Four were not because of uncertainty about their origins.

An inquest heard the men - known as Andrew and Charlie - have not been traced and may have kept more coins.


Peter Reavill said the Shrewsbury Museums are keen to acquire the coins for its collection
The hearing at Shrewsbury's Shirehall was told the pair, who were possibly from Kent, visited the land numerous times in 2017.

It was told they had left a mobile number, but have been unreachable, and police found the number was unregistered.

Peter Reavill, Shropshire's finds liaison officer, said it was possible they had split finds between themselves and the landowner, meaning there may be more unreported coins.



The four gold and 15 silver coins dated from 50 BC to AD 45. While the 15 coins declared treasure are from a tribe native to the West Midlands, one gold and three silver coins are from another tribe which resided in East Anglia, he said.

A report by the British Museum said they could have been "acquired elsewhere" and were not found to be treasure as it was "unlikely" they were from the same find.



"These two detectorists may not have had information about the law," Mr Reavill said.

"But if they did... they should have known they needed to report they had found an item of possible treasure."

He added the 15 coins alone represented the largest Iron Age discovery in Shropshire, making it a "rare and exciting" find.

West Mercia Police has been contacted for comment.

[Val Beechey]

Sounds mighty suspicious to me but who knows ?

The fact that the coins are from two different tribes so far apart is odd to say the least but not impossible, I s’pose.

Hope the farmers gets a good pay out. I imagine he’ll get to keep it all as they can’t trace Andrew & Charlie.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting Neil.

[Resurgam]

Hmmmm; I wonder?