Legions' coins coming home

11:14am Thursday 8th February 2007

ROMAN coins unearthed by a Thornbury man while digging his garden are finally coming home to the town.

Part of the massive hoard - unearthed by sales executive Ken Allen three years ago - is to go on permanent display at Thornbury Museum thanks to a £10,000 grant from museum chiefs in Bristol.

Volunteers at the tiny museum in Chapel Street Thornbury where stunned when they heard of the major cash backing coming their way under a government-backed "Renaissance" project aimed at regenerating small local museums.

"This is the biggest thing to happen to Thornbury Museum since it was set up more than 20 years ago," said management committee chairman Sandi Shallcross. "This is the third biggest Roman coin find ever in the UK and the only one that hasn't been broken up in some way. It's really important for at least part of it to be on display in the town.

"We haven't yet been told how many coins we're getting but we do know it will be a significant number - possible 100 or more. At one point we thought that all Thornbury might be getting were half a dozen coins in a little box - or maybe even replicas. Now we know it's going to be something really meaningful.

"The money means they will be on proper permanent display in Thornbury. It's going to mean significant changes at the museum. We shall need new cabinets for a start and improved security.

"Planning is already getting underway. We don't have a timetable as such but we're optimistic the coins could be in Thornbury come this summer. We want to get them on display as soon as possible."

News of the funding was broken by Bristol Museum curator or archaeology Gail Boyle during a fundraising Salmon Supper last Friday organised by members of Thornbury Museum's Friends group.

Mrs Boyle was at the Armstrong Hall event to deliver the annual Ken Baily (corr) lecture - this year entitled Pots of Money - Roman Style.

"We were stunned when we heard how much we were getting,' said Museum trustee Meg Wise. "It's a lot of money - pretty much half our annual budget. The museum celebrates its 21st birthday later this year so it couldn't have come at a better time."

Gail Boyle said: "We're very pleased to be working in partnership with Thornbury Museum. We haven't yet discussed the mechanics of it or how many coins will be on display but it could be up to 200. Bristol Museum wil be assiting with the interpetative exhibition and working closely with Thornbury's curator Naomi Morrow who is in training."

Ken Allen found the earthenware pot containing 11,460 coins - dating from the fourth and fifth centuries AD - while digging a fish pond in his back garden almost three years ago.

A coroner subsequently ruled that the hoard was the property of the state and last year Bristol Museum received a major Lottery grant enabling it to reward Mr Allen to the tune of #40,000 and also to mount it own permanent display. It was also a condition that some of the cash would be used to put the coins on display in Thornbury.

The coins, dating from between 330 and 348 AD, were struck during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great to mark the founding of Constantinople (the present day Istanbul, capital of Turkey) as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. Some of them show a she-wolf suckling the twins Romulus and Remus - a reference to the legendary story of the foundation of Rome.

Experts believe the hoard may have been either a slow accumulation of savings, money hidden away in times of trouble or the devaluation of coinage, when earlier coins are worth more.

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