A mammoth hoard of 22,000 Roman coins – that was unearthed by a metal detecting enthusiast in East Devon – has been unveiled in Exeter.
The Seaton Down Hoard is believed to be one of the largest and best preserved 4th Century collections to have been found in Britain.
After being a closely guarded secret for almost a year, the collection was showcased on Friday at Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM).
The spectacular discovery was made at the Clinton Devon Estate by builder Laurence Egerton, using a metal detector. He then slept in his car for three nights to guard the collection. Video:
Mr Egerton, 51, who lives at Colaton Raleigh, said: "Initially I found two small coins the size of a thumbnail sitting on top of the ground. I decided to dig the earth at that spot and immediately reached some iron ingots which were laid directly on top of the coins.
"The next shovel was full of coins – they just spilled out over the field. I had no idea how far down the coins went so I stopped immediately and phoned my wife to come to the site with a camera."
After reporting the find to the estate and archaeologists, he removed the loose finds and back-filled the hole.
"Between finding the hoard and the archaeologists excavating the site I slept alongside it in my car for three nights to guard it," he added.
Mr Egerton unearthed the hoard – the equivalent of a worker's wages for two years – near the excavated site of a Roman villa at Honeyditches in November 2013.
It was then removed in its entirety by a team of archaeologists.
He added: "It's by far the biggest find I've ever had. It really doesn't get any better than this. It is so important to record all of these finds properly because it's so easy to lose important insights into our history."
Over the past 10 months the coins have been lightly cleaned and the process of identification and cataloguing has begun by experts at the British Museum.
County archaeologist Bill Horner said the Roman copper-alloy coins date back to between AD260 and AD348 and bear the images of Emperor Constantine, his family, co-Emperors and immediate predecessors and successors.
"Our archaeologists and the team at the British Museum have reported that the majority of the coins are so well preserved that they were able to date them very accurately," he said.
"This is very unusual for Devon because the county, as a whole, has slightly acidic soil which leads to metals corroding. The soil in this area is chalky which is why they've survived so well."
Experts believe the collection of coins could have been the savings of a private individual, a soldier's wages, or a commercial payment.
But their financial value would have been low – amounting to just four gold coins that would have provided rations for two soldiers for one year, or a worker's pay for two years.
Mr Horner added: "There were no high street banks, so a good, deep hole in the ground was as secure a place as any to hide your savings in times of trouble, or if you were going away on a long journey. But whoever made this particular deposit never came back to retrieve it."
Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) is aiming to keep the hoard in the city, so that it can be seen by the public for the first time in more than 1,500 years.
The hoard was declared as treasure at an inquest earlier this month, which means it will be eligible to be bought by the museum after valuation by a group of independent experts.
RAMM, which already houses a large collection of local Romano-British objects, has launched a fund-raising campaign for the treasure.
Exeter City Councillor Rosie Denham, who is responsible for culture, media and sport, said: "This extraordinary hoard will add greatly to our picture of life in Roman Devon.
"It would be a wonderful addition to RAMM's collection of local Romano-British objects which includes finds from nearby Honeyditches.
"Adding it to RAMM's world-class collections will let the people of Devon share in one of the most significant archaeological finds to have been made in Britain for many years."
Online donations can be made at www.don8.to/RAM002 and £5 donations by texting RAM002 to 70970.
