ROMAN COINS
THOUSANDS IN A BOX
DORCHESTER. May 12
The police have taken possession oi .some thousands of Roman coins discovered to-day'while excavations wentaking place on a building site at South-street, Dorchester.
The discovery was made near the foundations of a Roman villa which was uncovered last week. A workman, driving his pick into an ironbound box, was amazed to see a stream of bronze coins fall out. Col. C. D. Drew, curator of the Dorset County Museum, who conducted the excavation, said the find was the most sensational of recent years. The box was packed tightly with coins, and a. bronze bowl 1-1 inches in diameter was also filled. In addition he found an urn’of beautiful workmanship in an excellent slate of preservation. “At the end of the third century A.D. this type of coinage was demonetised by the Emperor Diocletian and therefore became valueless,” he said. “It was probably buried in the hope that one day it would regain its value.”
Tiie coins are two denarii pieces. Some are of silver, but the majority are bronze with a silver wash.
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Bibliographic details
Greymouth Evening Star, 19 June 1936, Page 2
Word Count
182ROMAN COINS Greymouth Evening Star, 19 June 1936, Page 2
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