BRITISH MAN DISCOVERS HALF A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF ANCIENT COINS WITH HIS METAL DETECTOR
When using a metal detector, anyone from the UK usually looks for hidden treasure, but in 2010 he discovered more than he could have ever imagined. In a field in southwest England, hospital chef Dave Crisp was looking for metal objects when he came across something unusual: a pot full of Roman coins. CNN said at the time that Crisp thought he saw 21 coins at first, but as he started to uncover the pot, he realised he needed to bring in experts. Crisp made the most of the UK's Portable Antiquities Scheme, which was designed to encourage people to report archaeological discoveries.
The massive vase, which would have been used for food storage, was unearthed by county archaeologists.
Remarkably, Marcus Aurelius Carausius, the first Roman emperor to mint coins in Britain, was depicted on 766 coins. Following the excavation, the coins were transported to the British Museum for documentation and cleaning. The majority of the coins were made of bronze, and it took six weeks for them to dry out and stabilise. The hoard also included five denarii, which are rare silver coins.
They were the only silver coins struck in the Roman Empire at the time, and they were distributed by Carausius. When asked why they might have been buried in the first place, numismatist and British Museum Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure Roger Bland surmised, saying, "We think that whoever buried it didn't intend to come back to recover it." We can only speculate as to why people interred treasure; some may have done so to save money, others out of fear of an invasion, or perhaps as a sacrifice to the gods.
Because of the place where they were discovered, they are now known as the Frome Hoard. At the time of the first discovery, the coins were estimated to be worth $1 million. This value is significant because, by the UK's 1996 Treasure Act, a museum may buy the hoard and give the finder half of the proceeds. Specifically, Dave Crisp.