Campaign to ‘bring home’ rare Roman coins found near Edge Hill hits target
Donations from around the world have contributed to the campaign as well as £2,000 raised at a gala night on April 5, and £44,000 in grants to obtain the hoard from the British Museum.
Market Hall Museum hopes to be able to put the coins, the largest-ever collection of coins from AD 68-69 discoverd in 2015 but only made public in January – on display this summer.
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Warwickshire County Council museum service curator of human history Sara Wear said “The interest the hoard and the campaign has generated is far beyond what anyone could have imagined.
“We have received donations and enquires from all over the world. We are sure, once the hoard is on display, it will attract visitors to the town and to Warwickshire.
“On behalf of the Warwickshire County Council Museum Service, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to bringing the hoard home for generations to come to enjoy.”
The 78 silver denarii coins were uncovered in a collection of 440 pieces found buried in a ceramic pot during a dig near Warmington.
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They were made during a period of civil war which saw four different emperors in a year, all of whom made their own coins and destroyed previous ones, making any surviving relics very rare.
The campaign to bring them back to the museum in Warwick, where another large hoard of Roman coins found near Warmington in 2008 are also on display.