Background

Discovered on September 1st, 2002 by a Mr. P. Leech at the village of Braithwell, South Yorkshire. The 1,331 coins in the hoard date from A.D. 253-286, the group is very typical in composition to the many Romano-British coin hoards buried between the fall of the breakaway Gallic Empire in AD 274 and the establishment of the British Empire of Carausius in AD 286. The final coin in the hoard is of the emperor Probus and can be dated to A.D. 282, the hoard being deposited sometime after.

The vast majority of the coins in the hoard are debased Antoninianii of the Gallic Empire and would have had little contemporary value alongside the new and larger reformed coinage of the reunified empire represented here by the 7 coins of Aurelian and Probus that close the hoard. Whilst we will never know the exact reason for the concealment of this hoard or more crucially its none recovery, the relative worthlessness of hoard at the time and certainly within a few decades of burial has to be an important consideration.

From the presence of pot sherds at the site and from the traces of organic fibres on some of the coins, it is likely the coins were either wrapped in a cloth within in a pot or a cloth was used as a bung to seal the pot.

The hoard was promptly reported to the British Museum and processed according to the Treasure Act of 1996. Four coins were purchased by the British Museum and one by Doncaster Museum; the remainder returned to the finder and subsequently made available to private collectors.

A copy of the preliminary report by Richard Abdy and J. D. Hill will be sent with each order, where possible the numbering used in this list in mentioned in our descriptions. Full publication has been promised and should follow. Below is a summary of the hoards composition.

Central Empire:
Valerian and Gallienus (AD 253-60), 2 (Rome)
Gallienus and Salonina (AD 260-8), 101 (Rome, Milan, Siscia Viminacium)
Claudius II (AD 268-70), 85 (Rome, Milan, Siscia Viminacium, Eastern)
Divus Claudius, 10 (Rome, uncertain)
Quintillus (AD 270), 6 (Rome, Milan)
Aurelian (AD 270-5), 1 (Milan)
Probus (AD 276-82), 6 (Rome, Gaul).
Total: 211

Gallic Empire:
Postumus (AD 260-9), 14 (Mint I, Milan)
Laelian (AD 269), 1 (Mint II)
Victorinus (AD 269-71), 282 (Mint I, Mint II, uncertain)
Divus Victorinus, 1 (uncertain)
Tetricus I and II (AD 271-4), 725 (Mint I, Mint II, uncertain)
Total: 1,023

Irregular, 54
Uncertain, 43
Grand Total: 1,331