With the deadline fast approaching to raise the £62,000 to purchase a very rare hoard of Roman coins, Warwickshire Museum Service fundraising campaign is going very well. Funding bids have been su...
With the deadline fast approaching to raise the £62,000 to purchase a very rare hoard of Roman coins, Warwickshire Museum Service fundraising campaign is going very well. Funding bids have been successful, donations received in the museum donation boxes reached over £170 last week and the museum has also received a number of cheques from around the country.
The last push to help reach the target is the fundraising evening at Market Hall Museum on Friday 5th April, 7pm-10pm. There will be an opportunity to hear from Dr Stanley Ireland of Warwick University, who catalogued the first South Warwickshire Hoard, and a rare chance to see the pot that the coins were found in and some examples from the previous Roman hoard, along with other treasures from Roman Warwickshire.
Local businesses have been very generous with raffle prizes for the event which include Family Annual passes to Warwick Castle, a one night stay in a luxury lodge at Winchcombe Farm which looks over Edge Hill, near to where the hoard was found, vouchers for Dough and Brew, which was voted Best pizza in England and gin from the Warwickshire Gin Company to name just a few.
During the evening a raffle and auction will be held with all proceeds going to the campaign, along with all profits from the tickets and the bar. This is the last chance to get one of the few remaining tickets, they cost £20 and include a complimentary glass of prosecco on arrival and canapés. Tickets can be purchased from the museum by calling 01926 412501.
Kushal Birla, Assistant Director – Business and Customer Services, said:
“This is an amazingly important find for Warwickshire and our Roman past. I am delighted with the response so far from Warwickshire residents and businesses they have really got behind the campaign! I am also very grateful to the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Art Fund for their generous contribution. We still have some way to go but with the fundraising evening and the donations at the museum, I am confident that we will “Bring the Hoard Home” for Warwickshire’s residents and visitors to enjoy for generations to come.”
Any businesses wishing to donate a prize for the auction and raffle can contact louisejennings@warwickshire.gov.uk
Additional information about the Hoard
The hoard made up of 440 silver denarii coins was uncovered during an archaeological dig at a Roman site on the Edge Hill in 2015. They were buried in a ceramic pot over 1900 years ago, under the floor of a building. This is the second hoard of denarii to be found in this area and this new discovery contains 78 coins dating to AD 68-69, a turbulent time in Roman history known as the ‘Year of the Four Emperors’.
This important period is known as the ‘Year of the Four Emperors’, when the death of Nero in AD 68 sparked a civil war, resulting in four successive rulers in a short span of time: Galba, Otho, Vitellius and finally Vespasian. As they vied for power, each contender struck their own coins to fund their armies, and these coins are incredibly rare. Within a roughly 18 month period the title of Emperor changed hands four times. Very few of these coins from this turbulent time survive and the second South Warwickshire hoard contains the largest collection of civil war-era coins ever found anywhere in the world.
More information about the museums service is available on the Warwickshire Website: http://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/museum-service/
You can find out more about archaeology in Warwickshire here: http://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/archaeology/