Shapwick Hoard


The Shapwick Hoard is a hoard of 9,262 Roman coins found at Shapwick, Somerset, England in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD. The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before, and the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Britain.

Discovery, excavation and valuation

The hoard was discovered by cousins Kevin and Martin Elliott, who were amateur metal detectorists, in a field at Shapwick. Excavation of the site found that it had been "buried in the corner of a room of a previously unknown Roman building" and, after further excavation and geophysical surveying, "revealed the room to be part of a courtyard villa".
Following a treasure inquest at Taunton, the hoard was declared treasure and valued at £265,000. Somerset County Museum Services acquired the hoard, with the aid of Somerset County Council, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and other organisations, and it is now displayed at the Museum of Somerset in the grounds of Taunton Castle.
An addendum to the discovery was filed in the Treasure Annual Report 2000 which added a further 23 coins, valued at £690, also found by Kevin and Martin Elliott.

Items discovered

Notable inclusions in the hoard were 260 coins from the reign of Mark Antony from 31–30 BC, with over half the coins being struck in the reign of Septimius Severus. There were also two rare coins not discovered in Britain before depicting Manlia Scantilla, the wife of Didius Julianus, an emperor who was murdered four weeks after the coins were struck. Non-Roman coins included were three Lycian drachmae and one drachma of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The latest coin struck was in 224 AD, and it is estimated that the hoard as a whole represented ten years' pay for a Roman legionary.
ReignDate№ of coins
Mark Antony31 BC260
Nero54–6844
Galba68–6912
Otho699
Vitellius6930
Vespasian69–79548
Titus79–8169
Domitian81–9621
Nerva96–9812
Trajan98–11791
Hadrian117–138117
Antoninus Pius138–161567
Marcus Aurelius161–180171
Commodus180–192356
Septimius Severus193–2115,741
Caracalla198–217345
Macrinus217–21861
Elagabalus218–222688
Severus Alexander222–235120

Other hoards

Shapwick has been the site of various hoard discoveries over the years, although the 1998 find was by far the largest.