The Muddy Hoard
‘Adopt a Coin’ – register your interest now!
The Norris Museum is excited to announce the unveiling of The Muddy Hoard – a Roman hoard, containing some 9.2k coins, across the reign of 14 Emperors and 1 Empress and includes a previously unrecorded coin – a denarius of Emperor Tetricus I. It is by far the most significant acquisition The Norris Museum has ever secured. The exhibition will run for at least 6 months, whilst fundraising for its permanent display in the main gallery.
This exhibition is just the beginning of the hoard’s long journey to finally become part of our permanent displays. To do this, we must continue to research the excavated materials and to fundraise for the new exhibit design and display cases.
You can help us with this! We have a fantastic programme of events planned for the duration of the exhibition, so please come along and support us – all profits will go towards the new permanent display. There will also be live research and conservation happening in the gallery. Keep an eye on our website and social media for more information!
For the history enthusiast, you can officially ‘Adopt a Coin’ from this hoard. Have your name forever linked with one of these beautiful treasures by, in the first instance, registering your interest via the form below. We will be in touch about coin individual allocation shortly. If you are interested in adopting one of the rarer coins, or even the unique denarius, please contact us directly at info@norrismuseum.org.uk.
More information about The Muddy Hoard:
Discovered in May 2018 about 9 miles north of Huntingdon (the exact location is confidential for security purposes) by a metal detectorist. An initial scatter of coins was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer (as per best practice) the remaining hoard was excavated by them with an expert from the British Museum as part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The coin hoard was discovered in 2 pottery vessels (one inside the other) and contained 9,274 coins.
The hoard includes several rare coins, including two denarii of Gallienus and a previously unrecorded denarius of Tetricus I. The rest of the coins are ‘radiates’, the main denomination from the later Roman period, and an unusually high proportion of locally-minted coins (known as ‘barbarous radiates’) compared to similar hoards.
Given the quantity, composition, and quality of some of the coins, it could be counted as being one of the ten most significant Roman coin hoards yet found in the UK.