By Everett Millman – Gainesville Coins …….
During one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of Britain, the three-part conflict known as the English Civil War (1642-1651), there were undoubtedly a great deal of lives and personal wealth lost to the carnage.
A portion of this lost wealth has now emerged from the depths of history.
A massive hoard of over 1,000 silver coins from this momentous era in history has been uncovered in Lincolnshire, a county located in the eastern portion of England. This has naturally brought up a wide array of possible explanations for how and why these coins were buried and never recovered for about 350 years.
“From the Front Line”
The huge cache of silver coins, which date from the late 16th century to the middle of the 17th century, was apparently stored in a ceramic pot and buried. Fragments of the pot were located near the site of the coins.
According to Dr. Adam Daubney, the finds officer for the Lincolnshire County Council’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, the region where the coins were found “was a zone of intense conflict between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists in the early years of the war,” meaning that they were hidden near the “front line” of the fighting.
Dr. Daubney added that it is the “largest of the hoards that has been found from that time in [Lincolnshire],” spanning the reigns of King Edward VI, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary, King James I, and King Charles I. Duabney suggested the hoard “might have been buried by someone who went off to fight and never returned.”
“The hoard tells us about the uncertainty and fear that must have been felt at the time,” he added, “but quite why it was buried—and by whom—is impossible to say.”
Incredible Discovery
According to the BBC, the finder of the hoard was a man using a metal detector named Steven Ingram. The discovery was made in a farm field near a village called Ewerby in early October. The landowner said he has been farming in this field for over 50 years, “so no one is more surprised [by the discovery] than me.”
The county coroner is still officially determining the status of the coin hoard as treasure, after which point the value will be appraised.
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