This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Frome Hoard | |
|---|---|
| Name | Frome Hoard |
| Material | Silver coins |
| Created | 3rd–4th century AD (Roman) |
| Period | Roman Britain |
| Place | Near Frome, Somerset |
| Discovered | 2010 |
| Location | Victoria and Albert Museum (selected coins on display) |
Frome Hoard The Frome Hoard is a large late Roman coin hoard discovered near Frome, Somerset in 2010. It comprises tens of thousands of silvered bronze radiates and other coin types buried in a ceramic vessel, and its discovery prompted investigations by archaeologists from Somerset County Council, numismatists at the British Museum, and legal assessment under the Treasure Act 1996. The find has informed debates about the late Roman Britain monetary system, regional crisis in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, and collection policies at institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and local museums in Bath, Bristol, and Somerset.
The hoard was found by a metal detectorist in 2010 during fieldwork near Frome, who reported the find to the local Portable Antiquities Scheme liaison officer and Somerset County Council archaeologists. The discovery prompted a formal excavation supervised by archaeologists connected with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the British Museum Finds Liaison Officer network, and county conservation teams, with involvement from the landowner and local volunteers affiliated with the Society of Antiquaries of London and regional heritage bodies. Reporting procedures engaged the Treasure Act 1996 processes and the coroner for Somerset to determine legal status and potential acquisition by museums like the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
The assemblage consisted primarily of silvered bronze radiate coins, mint-produced in provincial mints across the late imperial Roman Empire, together with a smaller number of antoniniani, nummi, and related denominations struck under emperors including Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Probus, and Diocletian. Coins bore imperial portraits and reverse types associated with dynastic propaganda used by administrations in Rome, Milan, Trier, and Lyon (Gaul), and included issues traceable to Imperial mints in the provinces of Gaul, Hispania, and Britannia. The vessel holding the coins was a coarse, locally produced ceramic jar similar to wares found in excavations at Bath and Cirencester.
Numismatic analysis dated the bulk of the hoard to the late 3rd and early 4th centuries AD, with a terminus post quem established by the latest identifiable issues attributed to the Tetrarchy era under Diocletian and his colleagues. Metallurgical examination by conservators using X-ray fluorescence and comparative studies with coin corpora at the British Museum indicated silvering techniques common to the mid- to late-3rd century antoninianus and later nummus series. Die-link and hoard-finding pattern comparisons with well-documented hoards such as the Hoxne Hoard and the Mildenhall Treasure provided context for chronological placement and monetary composition, suggesting depositional activity during periods of fiscal strain and currency reform across the western Roman Empire.
Interpretation of the hoard has linked its deposition to the political and economic turbulence of the late 3rd century, including the Crisis of the Third Century, barbarian incursions recorded in sources like the Notitia Dignitatum, and administrative reforms initiated by Diocletian and Constantine the Great. Archaeologists and historians compared the hoard to settlement evidence from Romano-British sites such as Caerleon, Silchester, and Lindinis (Ilchester) to assess local responses to military redistribution, tax levies, and debasement of coinage. The hoard thus contributes to scholarship on monetary circulation, monetary hoarding behavior, and regional networks linking Britannia with continental mints in Milan and Trier.
After legal adjudication, professional conservation work was carried out by specialists following protocols developed at the British Museum and regional conservation laboratories, employing desalination, mechanical cleaning, and electrochemical stabilization to remove corrosion and reveal inscriptions and iconography. Selected coins and contextual materials were curated for public display in exhibitions coordinated by the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and local institutions in Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset Council venues, while remaining elements were documented in detailed catalogues and integrated into numismatic research repositories used by scholars at universities including University College London, the University of York, and the University of Leicester.
The find was reported under the Treasure Act 1996; subsequent inquest procedures involved the Somerset Coroner and local authorities, with the valuation process engaging the Treasury (United Kingdom) and the Museums Association guidelines for acquisition. Following valuation by the Treasure Valuation Committee, offers were made by national and regional museums, leading to negotiated acquisition agreements that balanced public interest, fair reward for the finder and landowner, and long-term curation under institutional accession policies. The case reinforced protocols for collaboration among detectorists, the Portable Antiquities Scheme, county archaeological services, and national museums in the management of significant Romano-British discoveries.
Category:Roman Britain Category:Treasure troves in England Category:2010 archaeological discoveries