The Rogiet Hoard is a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of 3,778

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, de ...

found at

Rogiet Rogiet () cy, Rhosied is a small village and community (and electoral ward) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, between Caldicot and Magor, west of Chepstow and east of Newport, which covers an area of . It lies close to the M4 and M48 m ...

, Monmouthshire,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in September 1998. The coins dated from 253 up until 295–296. The hoard notably contained several faulty issues, and some rare denominations, including those depicting the

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin D ...

emperors

Carausius Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius (died 293) was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, during the Carausian Revolt, declaring himself emperor in Britain and ...

and

Allectus Allectus (died 296) was a Roman-Britannic usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296. History Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286. ...

Discovery and valuation

The hoard was discovered by

metal detectorist A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

Colin Roberts on 10 September, 1998 and, after a

coroner's inquest A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...

in December, 1998 was declared a

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

. It was valued at £40,000 and is now owned by the National Museum and Galleries of Wales.

Items discovered

The hoard contained 3,778

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

radiates Radiata or Radiates is a historical taxonomic rank that was used to classify animals with radially symmetric body plans. The term Radiata is no longer accepted, as it united several different groupings of animals that do not form a monophyleti ...

, including seven

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...

, of which just over a third came from the reign of

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

(276–282). The latest coin was struck around 295–296. 766 of the coins were struck during the reigns of the usurper emperors, Carausius, and his eventual murderer and successor, Allectus. Coins from these reigns are infrequently found in hoards, and several of them depicted Roman warships. Carausius also struck coins bearing the images of Diocletian and

Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then '' Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...

in order to ingratiate himself with them, and one example had all three men on it with the words "''Carausius et fratres sui''" (Carausius and his brothers). This example was described as "one of the finest specimens of this issue yet recorded". The hoard containing "significant numbers" of Allectus quinarii or ''Q-radiates'', coupled with the total number of "improved issue" coins from the

Aurelian Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...

to Diocletian reigns—after Aurelian's monetary reformation—made it an "unprecedented" single deposit from these categories. Another rare coin, a Divus Nigrinian, was remarked to be only the second recorded British example found.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogiet Hoard Treasure troves in Wales Treasure troves of Roman Britain History of Monmouthshire Metal detecting finds in Wales 1998 archaeological discoveries 1998 in Wales Hoards from Roman Britain

Discovery and valuation

Items discovered

See also

References

External links