Checklist of Coin Hoards from the British Isles, c.450-1180

The Appledore, Kent hoard (no. 239a)

Introduction
Note on arrangement
View the checklist
Early Medieval Corpus (single finds)

Introduction

This is a revised and extended version of the article by Mark Blackburn and Hugh Pagan, 'A revised check-list of coin hoards from the British Isles, c.500-1100', in Anglo-Saxon Monetary History, ed. M. A. S. Blackburn (Leicester, 1986), pp. 291-313. This was itself a revision of a hoard listing by Michael Dolley published in 1966, which was based upon Thompson's Inventory (1956). The present web version includes a number of corrections to entries in the previous versions, plus over 150 new hoards.

The numbering of the 1986 article has been retained for hoards 1-307 and new hoards have been inserted into that sequence and assigned alphanumerical numbers (i.e. Appledore is 239a). The extension to cover the hoards of 1100-80, numbered from 400, has been based on the listings in Blackburn 1990 (Henry I), Blackburn 1994 (Stephen) and Allen 2002 (Henry II). The chronology of the twelfth-century coinage, and thus the dating of the hoards, is a matter of debate and although precise dates are generally provided, in line with checklist convention, they are far from certain (cf Allen 2006 where a more general date is cited).

In the original article, Hugh Pagan was primarily responsible for hoards from the period c.800-975, and Mark Blackburn for those earlier and later. Broadly the same division of responsibility applies to this updated version, though both have provided corrections and additions to the other's section, and in particular the hoards of Alfred's reign (871-99) have been revised in line with Mark Blackburn's work on that period.

For the early material (checklist 1-30), the checklist uses the relevant entries from Rigold and Metcalf 1984 with dating as proposed by Blackburn 1984. This area has been updated by Abdy and Williams 2006 who include details of recent hoards. The hoards containing Northumbrian coinage (checklist 31-46) are summarised in Pirie 1986b and Pirie 2000 while the problems in dating are considered in Pagan 1969a, though the scheme there proposed is open to criticism. The English material from 973 to 1158 (checklist 173-425) is summarised in Allen 2006, which provides descriptions and up to date references. Furthermore, Kristin Bornholdt has given us the benefit of her unpublished work on the Manx hoards.

Sean Miller's role in the preparation of this Check-list has been fundamental. Not only has he converted the entire text into HTML and designed the web page, but he has pulled together the corrections and additions from various sources using his academic judgement in the process. Latterly, Andy Woods has updated and corrected the checklist into its current form.

The Checklist is in a state of continual development and we welcome any corrections or additions. If you are aware of any omissions, corrections or new hoards then please contact us at:

arw66@cam.ac.uk or fitzmuseum-coins@lists.cam.ac.uk