Wickham Market Hoard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wickham Market Hoard |
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The Wickham Market Iron Age gold staters
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| Material | Gold |
| Size | 840 coins |
| Period/culture | Iron Age |
| Discovered | Wickham Market, Suffolk March – October 2008 |
The Wickham Market Hoard is a huge collection of 840 gold coins from the Iron Age. These coins are called staters. They were found in a field near Wickham Market, Suffolk, England, in 2008. A car mechanic named Michael Dark discovered them using a metal detector.
After more searching and digging, a total of 840 coins were found. These ancient coins are very old, dating from around 40 BC to 15 AD. This collection was special because it was the largest group of British Iron Age gold coins ever fully studied. It also gave experts lots of new information about the Iron Age, especially in the East Anglia area.
In 2011, the Ipswich Museum bought the hoard for £316,000. Now, you can see these amazing coins on display there!
Contents
How the Hoard Was Found
The Exciting Discovery
On March 16, 2008, Michael Dark, a 60-year-old car mechanic, found his first gold coin. He had been using a metal detector for 25 years! He was searching in fields near Wickham Market. Michael used the internet to figure out that his coin was a "Freckenham stater." This type of coin was first found in a hoard back in 1885.
A week later, even though it was snowing and sleeting, Michael went back to the field. He found eight more gold staters. As he kept searching, his metal detector suddenly made a lot of noise. He knew he was standing right on top of a "crock of gold."
Michael marked the spot with stones. He decided to wait until the next night to dig up the coins. He said, "These coins have been waiting two thousand years for me to find them, so they can wait one more night for me." The next night, he dug up 774 more coins with a spade.
The field had not been plowed since 1980. The ground was like hard clay. But earlier farm work had broken the pot the coins were buried in. This scattered the coins over an area of about 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet). Some coins were still inside the broken pot. Most were found about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) under the ground.
After washing the coins in warm water, Michael gave them to the landowner. The landowner then told the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service about the amazing find.
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Digging Up the Site
The British Museum and Suffolk County Council helped pay for a special dig at the site. This happened between October 14 and 15, 2008. During the dig, experts found that the hoard had been buried inside a fenced-off area. This area might have been a special religious place.
During this dig, 42 more coins were found. This brought the total to 824 coins at that time. Experts studied the area around the burial spot. They looked at other ditches nearby. They figured out that the hoard was buried around 15 AD. This matched the date of the newest coin found in the collection.
What Was in the Hoard?
The Coins and Their Value
In June 2009, a special meeting called a "coroner's inquest" declared the coins "treasure trove". This means they are very important and belong to the Crown, but the finders get a reward. By this time, a total of 840 staters had been reported. Almost all the coins were made by the Iceni tribe in East Anglia. Only two coins came from Lincolnshire.
Most of the coins were the "Freckenham type," just like Michael Dark's first find. A few were "Snettisham type," named after another famous hoard. These Snettisham coins were the oldest ones in the hoard, made between 40 and 30 BC.
Experts estimated the hoard's value today could be between £500,000 and £1,000,000. To understand how valuable they were long ago, imagine this: one gold stater might have paid for a month of military service! Ten gold staters could pay for a cavalry soldier for a whole battle.
The Freckenham staters were made of a mix of metals: about 40% copper, 20% silver, and 40% gold. This mix is sometimes called "rose gold." Even with this mix, the coins were very valuable. Each coin weighed a little over 5 grams (0.18 ounces).
Why the Hoard Is Important
The Wickham Market Hoard was the largest collection of Iron Age gold staters found since 1849. That year, a farm worker found between 450 and 2,000 coins near Milton Keynes.
No one knows for sure why the Wickham Market Hoard was buried. But there are a few ideas:
- It might have been a "votive offering." This means it was a gift to the gods.
- It could have been a community hoard. This means the coins were collected and buried for the good of the whole tribe.
- It might have been a "war chest," hidden away because of a coming danger.
- It could have been a payment to avoid an invasion.
Jude Plouviez from the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service said the discovery is important. It shows that the area was likely very important for politics, money, and religion back then. She also said it gave "a lot of new information about the Iron Age, and particularly East Anglia in the late Iron Age."
Ian Leins, who was the curator of Iron Age coins at the British Museum, said, "It is the largest hoard of British Iron Age gold coins to be studied in its entirety."
Where to See the Hoard
In June 2011, it was announced that the Ipswich Museum had bought the hoard for £316,000. They got help from a grant of £225,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £40,000 from the Art Fund. The hoard is now on permanent display at the Ipswich Museum.
The money from the sale was shared. The landowner, Cliff Green, got half. The metal detectorists, Michael Dark and Keith Lewis, each got a quarter.
Other Hoards Found Nearby
In 1984, another collection of coins was found in a pot in the Wickham Market area. This hoard had 1,587 Roman-British coins. They dated from 270 AD.
