A hoard of Roman coins found near Fakenham has sold at auction for £15,258
A hoard of Roman coins found in Norfolk has sold for more than £15,000 at auction.
A total of 432 historical silver coins, from the fifth Century A, were discovered in a field between 2020 and 2022 by a metal detectorist in Fakenham.
The first load of 73 coins was sold at Noonans Mayfair in central London on Wednesday for £15,258. The farmer and metal detectorist will be sharing the proceeds.
Nigel Mills, coin and artefact specialist at Noonan's, said the hoard had in fact spread out over a third of an acre through disturbance by ploughing and has been recorded under the treasure act and returned to the finder after being disclaimed.
He said: “The hoard is likely to have been deposited at the beginning of the 5th century AD with the latest coin of Honorius dating no later than 402AD.
"Other Roman treasure finds of gold and silver also from East Anglia such as the Hoxne and Thetford hoards reflect the wealth and importance of the area.
“The most interesting coin in this hoard is an excessively rare presentation silver Third Miliarensis issued by Theodosius in 380AD.
"The coin has on the reverse a Phoenix standing on a globe with the legend Perpetvetas.
“At this time the empire was ruled jointly by Gratian, his half-brother Valentinian II, and Theodosius so this coin together with an example of each of the other two co-emperors could have provided a donative payment of a Miliarensis celebrating a military victory.
"This coin is only the fifth known specimen (the other four are in museums) so this is the only one available to buy. We expect it to fetch £2,000-2,600.”