Blog - Malmesbury Coin Hoard

The Jersey Hoard

By Athelstan Museum on September 29, 2019 in Blog

September 2019

For something a little further afield from Malmesbury, here is a photo of a replica of the amazing Le Catillon II Hoard in Jersey! This is what over 70,000 coins look like – and hidden underneath were gold torcs. A few volunteers were fortunate enough to visit the La Hougue Bie museum in Jersey while there on holiday and had a chance to see some of this incredible find and hear about the massive effort involved in their ongoing conservation. An inspirational visit and well worth the trip.

Carnival Open Day

By Athelstan Museum on August 22, 2019 in Blog

Carnival 2019

The wonderful Malmesbury Carnival held an Open Day for historic places across the town, and the museum’s lovely newly refurbished Julia and Hans Rausing Building was host to visitors throughout the day. Coins from the hoard were on display for everyone to view, including our simulated 1266 coins in a bottle – it’s amazing how heavy the hoard was.

A Trip to Pompeii

By Athelstan Museum on August 15, 2019 in Blog

August 2019

Pompeii – what an amazing place! The volunteers had a chance to visit – well, not the actual Pompeii, but the fantastic exhibit being held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It’s truly stunning how many wonderful objects have been brought over for this display – you get a sense of the Roman town as their actual belongings really bring the people to life.

Strawberries, sun, and coins

By Athelstan Museum on July 27, 2019 in Blog

July 2019

The ever-popular Crudwell Strawberry Fayre attracted hundreds of people at its annual event, and the coin hoard volunteers were happy to welcome many of them to our stand to explain the hoard. And they even got to enjoy the terrific strawberries!

A Visit to St. Joseph’s School

By Athelstan Museum on June 28, 2019 in Blog

June 2019

We had a fun visit to St Joseph’s CE Primary School where the volunteers spent the morning with the students. It was a great opportunity to talk about Romans in the area, and to hear the children’s view of Romans – a very horrible history indeed! Everyone had a chance to handle the coins and try to read them.

Open Day Malmesbury Carnival

By Athelstan Museum on June 9, 2019 in Past events

We’ll be in Malmesbury in the museum’s Julia and Hans Rausing building on the 17th in the afternoon. We hope you’ll stop by to see the inside of this wonderful building and you’ll have a chance to see coins from the hoard.

Emperor Constantine

By Athelstan Museum on May 24, 2019 in Blog

May 2019

This is the reverse of an Emperor Constantine coin. The mint initials ‘PTR’ indicate it was made in Trier, Germany. The inscription reads ‘Marti Conservatori’ – To Mars, the Defender. It represents the god Mars, who is standing holding a spear and represents the emperor as a god protecting his people.

Conservation

By Athelstan Museum on April 28, 2019 in Blog

April 2019

The conservation and cleaning of the coins continues at Wiltshire Conservation Services. The meticulous process means every coin needs to be treated individually to remove the centuries of corrosion on the coins. On the left you can see the coin before conservation, and on the right the coin after conservation.

School visits

By Athelstan Museum on March 26, 2019 in Blog

March 2019

We’ve received terrific feedback from our visit to Minety last month and the team enjoyed it so much we’d love to visit other local schools interested in learning about the coins and Romans.

A Visit to Minety CE Primary School

By Athelstan Museum on February 26, 2019 in Blog

February 2019

We had a fantastic visit to Minety CE Primary School were several volunteers spent the day with the students. We had a lot of fun with each class discussing all aspects of Romans and coins – from the geography of the Roman Empire, to the value of coins, and we even had a go at learning Roman numerals. We really appreciate all the help and support from the teachers, especially headteacher Mrs Greaves, that helped make it so special.