YOUNG ALHS
The abergavenny
hoard
In April 2002 three detectorists from Cwmbran – John L Jones, Richard Johns and Fred Edwards - were using their detectors in the corner of a field near Abergavenny when they found an amazing collection of silver coins. They reported their find and later the hoard found a home in the National Museum Cardiff. The exact spot where the hoard was found has been kept secret.
The 199 silver coins all date from the 11th century included some from the time of the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor and the Norman King William the Conqueror. They are all about 2cm in diameter and when found were stuck together with iron deposits and traces of fabric, so it seemed they been buried in a cloth bag. The coins had been struck in 36 different mints including Hereford and Bristol (there were no mints in Wales) by a number of different people authorised to produce coins. The value of the hoard would have been about three month’s wages.
The museum conservators needed to separate and clean the coins and after testing it was found that using an infrared laser was the safest way to do this. After cleaning the coins became really shiny and revealed amazing details.
(Images: National Museum Wales)
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