A wealth of treasure to be found at Warwickshire Museum
A fascinating collection of Warwickshire treasure is being opened to the public at Warwickshire Museum this month.
The hoards of coins are from sites all across the county, some found by local people using metal detectors, and range from as far back as the Iron Age (1st century BC) to the English Civil War (mid 17th century).
The coins on display include celtic ‘staters’ with cartoon-like horses on them, an ‘angel’ of Henry VII and a Roman coin so heavy a purse full would be difficult to carry.
The display looks at the history of coinage in Britain, why coins were hoarded and buried in the past and how and why people have collected coins.
Some of the finds are previously unseen and have been brought together in one case for all to see. Warwickshire Museum was able to acquire the finds through the Treasure Act, which applies to two or more coins of gold or silver found together more than 300 years old.
This new display coincides with the publication of a catalogue of the Greek and Roman coins from the collection of Sir Roger Newdigate of Arbury Hall, Nuneaton. He brought back many important and interesting ancient coins on his Grand Tours of Europe in the 18th century.
These are now part of Warwickshire Museum’s collection. The catalogue is the work of Dr Stanley Ireland of the University of Warwick and Warwickshire Museum’s former honorary numismatist, the late Wilfred Seaby.
Entrance to the museum is free and the building is open to the public from 10am until 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday and until September, 11.30am until 5pm on a Sunday.
For further details visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/museums