TREASURE HUNTER FINDS HOARD OF 52,500 ROMAN COINS

A TREASURE HUNTER HAS FOUND AN IMMENSE CACHE OF ABOUT 52,500 ROMAN COINS DATING TO THE 3rd CENTURY AD, ONE OF THE LARGEST FINDS EVER IN BRITAIN, OFFICIALS SAID THURSDAY. THE HOARD, WHICH WAS VALUED AT £3.3 MILLION, INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF COINS BEARING THE IMAGE OF MARCUS AURELIUS CARAUSIUS, WHO SEIZED POWER IN BRITAIN AND NORTHERN FRANCE IN THE LATE 3rd CENTURY AND PROCLAIMED HIMSELF EMPEROR. DAVE CRISP, A TREASURE HUNTER USING A METAL DETECTOR, LOCATED THE COINS IN APRIL IN A FIELD IN SOUTHWESTERN ENGLAND, ACCORDING TO THE SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL AND THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME. THE COINS WERE BURIED IN A LARGE JAR ABOUT A FOOT DEEP AND WEIGHED ABOUT 350 POUNDS IN ALL. CRISP SAID A 'FUNNY SIGNAL' FROM HIS METAL DETECTOR PROMPTED HIM TO START DIGGING. 'I PUT MY HAND IN, PULLED OUT A BIT OF CLAY AND THERE WAS A LITTLE RADIAL, A LITTLE BRONZE ROMAN COIN, VERY, VERY SMALL, ABOUT THE SIZE OF MY FINGERNAIL', CRISP SAID IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BBC. HE RECOVERED ABOUT 20 COINS BEFORE DISCOVERING THAT THEY WERE IN A POT, AND REALIZED HE NEEDED HELP. SOMERSET CORONER TONY WILLIAMS SCHEDULED AN INQUEST THURSDAY TO FORMALLY DETERMINE WHETHER THE FIND IS SUBJECT TO THE TREASURE ACT, A FORMAL STEP TOWARD DETERMINING A PRICE TO BE PAID BY ANY INSTITUTION WHICH WISHES TO ACQUIRE THE HOARD. THE HOARD IS ONE OF THE LARGEST EVER FOUND IN BRITAIN, AND WILL REVEAL MORE ABOUT THE NATION'S HISTORY IN THE THIRD CENTURY, SAID ROGER BLAND, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. THE FIND INCLUDES MORE THAN 750 COINS FROM THE REIGN OF CARAUSIUS, THE ROMAN NAVAL OFFICER WHO SEIZED POWER IN 286 AND RULED UNTIL HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN 293. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROMAN COINS FOLLOWS LAST YEAR'S DISCOVERY OF A HOARD OF ANGLO-SAXON COINS IN CENTRAL ENGLAND. THE SO-CALLED STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD INCLUDED MORE THAN 1,500 OBJECTS, MOSTLY MADE FORM GOLD. THE PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME IS A DEPARTMENT OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM WHICH DEALS WITH TREASURE FINDS.