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The Corbridge Gold Find of 1911

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Extract

The remarkable hoard of Roman gold coins found at Corbridge, Northumberland, in September, 1911, was discovered under circumstances which did not admit of any very obvious archaeological interpretation. The point as to whether it had been “of ancient time hidden” was of considerable practical importance, inasmuch as under the law of England gold or silver objects so hidden belong to the king, while such objects if they have been accidentally lost or deliberately abandoned may belong to the person who is fortunate enough to find them. Last December, in view of the situation that had arisen, the Crown authorities requested me to look carefully into the archaeological aspects of the matter for their guidance. The result was the following report which was addressed to the Solicitor to the Treasury, by whose permission it is here printed. The coins were surrendered as treasure trove to the Crown.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © George Macdonald 1912. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

page 1 note 1 In printing, the references to illustrations have been altered so as to accord with the figure numbers in the Journal. One or two footnotes have also been added.

page 3 note 1 Actually (I find) about 1802–10, when the south-west corner of the area of Corstopitum was cleared and many antiquities found (Ephemeris Epigrapbica, ix, 1142, 1149, etc.)

page 4 note 1 It is not, of course, meant to suggest that Corstopitum was a “town” in the same sense as Silchester was. All the evidence that has so far been recovered points to its having been a military station, possibly of a rather unusual type. But all military stations had their civil population.

page 7 note 1 Mr. Haverfield, however, points out to me that the building called the “pottery store” seems to have been destroyed about the same period as the hoard was lost, and to have never been rebuilt, nor its débris cleared away: its site lay vacant till the end of the Roman period, The same appears to have been the case with other buildings at Corstopitum. See p. 20.

page 10 note 1 It is right to add that Mr. R. H. Forster, from whom my original impression was derived, tells me that his own recollection of the facts is in no way shaken by the above statement of the finders. He says that, although the jug and its contents had been removed before he reached the scene, he saw the shape of its outline in the side of the trench, where it remained clearly visible for some days.

page 12 note 1 At the same time Mr. Haverfield tells me that the pottery and coins found in 1911 suggest that this part of the site was not very much occupied after the second century. Moreover, the occurrence of potsherds at Corstopitum sometimes seems to mean that the area in question lay vacant and was used as rubbish ground.

page 19 note 1 Others may prefer to think that the hoard had been public money or the property, not of a resident, but (say) of an official or officer temporarily there.