ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE them belonged to the close of the fourth century, about which time the hoard was obviously deposited in its hiding-place. The gold coins in- cluded issues of Valentinian I and II, Valens, Gratian, Theodosius and Arcadius. The finder declared that in total they weighed 6 lb., and, if we assume they resembled the ordinary gold coins of the period, they must have numbered between 550 and 600 if the man reckoned by avoirdupois, as a labourer would probably do, or between 450 and 500 if he reckoned by the troy weight usually employed for precious metals. Canon Digby of OfFenham gave Mr. Allies an account of 255 of these, but it has not survived. The gold coins are said to have been in singularly good preservation and for the most part to have consisted of very pure gold, but some were only plated copper. This last statement may however be an error, for the gold coinage of the fourth century was almost uniformly pure, and as its value depended largely on its weight, forgeries were necessarily difficult. The silver coins of the hoard included issues of Constantius II, Julian, Valens, Valentinian I, Gratian, Magnus Maximus, Theodosius, and Honorius, with, according to Mr. Allies, one coin of Vespasian. They were stated by the finder to number about 3,000 ; of 832 Canon Digby gave Mr. Allies an account. The silver coins were, it is said, much more worn than the gold, as indeed one might expect. Mr. Allies and Mr. May add that the hoard also comprised coins of Gordian, Valerian, Constantine, Valens and Flavius Victor, but they do not mention the metals.^ Let me further point out that at the Worcestershire Exhibition of 1882 the late Canon A. H. Winnington Ingram, rector of Harvington near Cleeve Prior, exhibited coins from the hoard and an object described in the 'Cata- logue' (p. 53) as 'a Roman lady's bronze chatelaine found at Cleeve Prior.' I do not know whether this had anything to do with the hoard, nor can I discover what has since become either of the coins or the ' chatelaine.' It would be unwise to speculate either on the former owner of these coins or the cause of their burial. I will say only that it does not seem to me absolutely necessary to refer even so large a hoard as this to a lost public treasure or army chest. For the rest, the troubles which fell upon Britain at the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century afford not one but several possible reasons for the burial and loss of hoards. To the numismatist, as distinct from the historian, the interest of this hoard lies rather in its silver than its gold. Hoards of the silver coins minted in the last half of the fourth century are by no means common : only two or three instances are known in Britain and hardly any on the continent. And if with these siliquce (as they were called) of the late fourth century there were combined silver coins of Vespasian and perhaps of Gordian and Valerian (if such
- Berrow's Wore. Jountal, Oct. 31, 1811 ; Anhaoh^a, xviii. 329 ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1811
(ii.), 506 ; G. May, Hist, of Evesham (ed. 2), p. 244 ; Allies, p. 91 ; R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore. Journal, June 27, 1891 ; Prattinton's MS. (vol. vii.) contains notes of fifty silver coins. I have made extensive private inquiries, with little result. The site of the find is duly marked in the 6-inch Ordnance Map (xliii. N.W.) half a mile due west of the village. 217
