Dr Murray Andrews

Archaeological Numismatist

Tag: coin hoards

A Civil War hoard from Hampshire: new publication for September 2022

2 September 2022 /

We’re now in September, and I’m pleased to share news of another article I’ve written that’s out in the wild!

This one appears in the Autumn 2022 Newsletter of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society. It reviews the evidence for a previously unnoticed hoard of Civil War-era silver coins found at Mousehole, nr Southampton, in May 1889. The hoard is an interesting one, consisting of shillings and sixpence hidden in a leather bag or purse some time after 1638. The article explores the circumstances of its burial in the light of other Civil War hoards from Hampshire, and suggests that it represents a stash of ‘ready money’ hidden just before the outbreak of war in August 1642.

So why not have a look? To get your hands on a copy, contact the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society via their website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

Roman coins from Southwark: new publication for August 2022

25 August 2022 /

The latest edition of the Surrey Archaeological Collections has just been published, and features a report by me on Roman coins excavated at the Science Gallery on the Kings College London Guy’s Campus.

KCL Guy’s Campus (©FormerBBC via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Science Gallery site was excavated by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd in 2016-17, and the site report by Alistair Douglas contains some fantastic evidence for activity on the south bank of the Thames from prehistory to the present day. During the Roman period the site was drained and repurposed for agricultural and industrial use, but prolonged flooding left it largely abandoned between the later 4th and 13th centuries.

My section of the report focuses on the coins from the site, nearly all of which are associated with late Roman activity. They include a small hoard of seven bronze nummi hidden or lost in horticultural soil in c.367-78. This is the first Valentinianic bronze hoard to be found in London and Southwark, and one of only three known from the whole of Greater London. The hoard is a fascinating snapshot of currency in circulation on the south bank of Roman Londinium, and provides strong evidence for a continued need for small change at a time of percieved ‘urban decline’.

If any of this interests you, why not have a look? To order your copy, visit the website of the Surrey Archaeological Society. 

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

Elizabethan treasures from Surrey: new publication for July 2022

25 July 2022 /

I’ve just got my hands on a copy of the February 2022 edition of Surrey’s Past, the new-look version of the Surrey Archaeological Society’s (SyAS) venerable Bulletin. This issue contains fascinating insights into the ongoing SyAS excavations at Cock’s Farm, Abinger, new thoughts on the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Guildown, and much else inbetween, including a short note by me on the Pirbright hoard of Elizabethan silver coins.

Discovered in 1844 but long since lost, the Pirbright hoard was previously unknown to scholarship, but can be carefully reconstructed through archival research. It consisted of c.120 silver coins of Elizabeth I, and was hidden far away from prying eyes on the edge of Pirbright Common in 1567-71. The article explores the find in the context of hoards and money in Tudor Surrey, and suggests that it might represent the household savings of a prosperous yeoman farmer from the local area.

So why not have a look? You can download the article directly here, or read the entire issue via the SyAS website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

Money from Machynlleth: new publication for July 2022

21 July 2022 /

Lately I’ve been busy traversing the complex world of ‘small change’ in 19th-century Britain, so I’m delighted to share news of an article I’ve had published in the latest Token Corresponding Society Bulletin.

This article reports on a previously-unnoticed hoard found during repairs at Parliament House (Senedd-dŷ), Machynlleth, in 1909. Buried in the mid- to late 1810s, the hoard contained 14 copper coins and tokens, and almost certainly represents the contents of a small change purse hidden or lost when the building was used as a granary and ‘miserable dwelling-house’ in the Regency era.

Parliament House (Senedd-dŷ), Machynlleth, in c.1816 (public domain)

The hoard offers a fascinating glimpse of the state of the currency in everyday circulation: a mix of genuine and counterfeit Georgian halfpence,  new and old private tokens from Glamorgan and Worcester, and even a far-flung copper struck for the Canadian Provinces. The distance that these objects travelled before their deposition illustrates the remarkable growth of inter-regional economic integration during the Industrial Revolution, pursued across thousands of miles of new turnpike roads and canals.

So why not have a look? To purchase a copy, get in touch with the Token Corresponding Society.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

A haul of hoards: new publications for March 2022

11 March 2022 /

Members of the British Numismatic Society will have by now received copies of the 2021 edition of the British Numismatic Journal, which features three new articles I’ve written on medieval and early modern coin hoards.

‘Three Tudor hoards containing continental gold coins’, British Numismatic Journal, 91 (2021), 115-125.

The first article discusses three previously-unrecorded coin hoards from Tudor England. Notably, each hoard contains gold coins struck in continental Europe, a fascinating phenomenon most recently discussed by Richard Kelleher. Aside from their numismatic interest, the hoards have some interesting archaeological and historical associations: one find from the River Thames near Lambeth Palace was probably lost by a traveller taking the famous Horseferry to Westminster, while the likely owners of the two hoards from Southampton and Pendock can be traced in historical records.

View across the River Thames towards Lambeth Palace (Image © Tagishsimon for Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The two other articles also record coin hoards. On describes an 1859 discovery of coins of Henry I and Stephen hidden at Dalton-in-Furness during the twelfth-century ‘Anarchy’, while the other gives summary listings of 47 medieval and post-medieval coin hoards reported under the Treasure Act 1996 by December 2020.

All in all, plenty of material to whet your numismatic whistle! To purchase a copy, get in touch with the BNS via their website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

Cash in the attic: new publication for May 2021

4 May 2021 /

New article alert!

The Cercle d’Études Numismatiques have just published the 2020 volume of the Journal of Archaeological Numismatics (JAN). This year’s offering is a special issue on the ‘Archaeology of Monetary Deposits’, and has a fantastic selection of papers on coin hoards across space and time: from Ireland to Italy, and from antiquity to World War 2!

My article explores late medieval coin hoarding in domestic contexts, using Britain and Ireland as a case study. Taking in evidence from nearly 200 hoards, the article uses a range of statistical techniques to explore how and why medieval hoarders hid their money at home. Like all JAN articles, it’s lavishly illustrated with colour maps and graphs – and, as an added bonus, there is a full gazetteer providing a point-of-entry to the hoards themselves.

So why not have a read? To purchase a copy, get in touch with the editor via the CEN website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website.

New review of medieval coin hoard book!

26 February 2021 /

The latest volume of the Numismatic Chronicle features a review of my recent book, Coin Hoarding in Medieval England and Wales, c.973-1544 , by Dr Barrie Cook, Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coins at the British Museum.

medieval coin hoard book

The review gives a wonderful summary of the key themes in the book, which is generously described as ‘an ambitious analysis of medieval coin hoards from England and Wales, addressing the fundamental questions of what are hoards and how and why are they deposited – and indeed how and why are they recovered…it is unparalleled and wholly welcome’.

So why not have a read yourself? To purchase a copy, head on over to the BAR website.

Tudor coins and Shropshire hoards: new publication for October 2020

5 October 2020 /

New publication alert!

I’ve just received my copy of the 2020 Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, the annual journal of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society. This issue contains intriguing articles on excavations at Frogmore Hall, early 19th century church restorations, and a short note by me on an Elizabethan gold coin from the Madeley Court coin hoard. As it happens, this is quite an important coin, which forces us to reconsider the  circumstances in which this important Stuart-era hoard was buried.

Why not have a read? To purchase a copy, get in touch with the Society via their website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website: here.

New publications – September 2020

6 September 2020 /

New publications alert!

I have two articles in the 2020 British Numismatic Journal, the annual journal of the British Numismatic Society. The first article discusses three late medieval and Tudor hoards from Greater London. The second, co-written with Eleanor Ghey from the British Museum, gives a round-up of recent coin hoards reported under the Treasure Act and Treasure Trove laws. Why not check them out? To purchase a copy, get in touch with the Society via their website.

For a full list of my publications to date, check out the ‘Publications’ page on this website: here.

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