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Coins worth Roman soldier's monthly wage found

Katy Prickett
BBC News, Norfolk
Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council A close-up of a silver Roman denarius. It shows the empress Sabina in profile, facing right. She has a large slightly hooked nose. Her hair is pulled back behind her ears and locks flow down her neck. The coin is rather pitted. On the left can be glimpsed some of the letters which in full spell out her name. Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council
Most of the coins found featured emperors, but some were minted in the names of imperial wives, including Hadrian's wife Sabina (above)

A Roman silver coin hoard worth almost the same as a legionary's monthly wage in the 2nd Century has been uncovered by a metal detectorist.

The discovery of 25 coins was made in a field near Great Ellingham, north of Attleborough, Norfolk, with the latest denarius unearthed in 2023.

Coin expert Adrian Marsden said the purse loss was probably disturbed by a plough "and had been sloshing around in a field ever since".

It is one of two denarius hoards currently going through the treasure process in Norfolk.

Getty Images A large group of men dressed as ancient Roman legionaries. They are dressed in silver-coloured armour, including helmets, over red tunics. They are carrying spears and red shields with a yellow design on them. On their feet are leather sandals, tied up around their ankles. Getty Images
Once a legionary took the oath to serve in the army, they were committed to it for at least 25 years

Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, said: "A silver denarius is reasonably valuable and about one day's pay for a legionary, so with the Great Ellingham hoard we're looking at nearly a month's wages - they were well paid."

Legionaries were the Roman Empire's citizen soldiers, men who had to meet strict physical and social requirements for recruitment.

This meant they had to be at least 1.72m (5ft7in) tall, needed a letter of recommendation, faced gruelling training and had to take an oath to serve in the army for at least 25 years.

On retirement, they received a pension worth a decade's pay.

Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council Two sides of a silver coin dating to AD120-1. On the left it shows the emperor Hadrian in profile, facing right. He had a prominent nose and eye and has a short but full beard. On his curling hair is a laurel wreath. There are letters struck on the circumference of the coin. On the right is its other side, which is much more worn. It shows the female figure of Pax, dressed in robes and facing left. Some of the letters on its circumference are indistinct. Andrew Williams/Norfolk County Council
The range of coins is "typical of what you'd find in hoards from the AD170s onwards", said Adrian Marsden

The second hoard of 13 denarii was found near Walpole Highway, a village north of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Coins in both hoards range from the AD60s to AD180s, including for emperors such as Trajan, his cousin Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

They also include coins minted for imperial wives such as Faustina I, her daughter Faustina II - and Sabina.

"What's nice about these little silver denarii is the people in them are instantly recognisable, with hooked noses or beards," said Dr Marsden.

"If you walk around a Roman sculpture collection, you can pick them out one by one - and they are not idealised like later Christian emperors, these are real people getting the warts and all treatment on the coinage."

In the vast 2nd Century empire, stretching from the Tigris-Euphrates river system in Turkey to the borders of Scotland, "it's certain everyone knows what the emperor looks like as a result of coins," the numismatist added.

If declared treasure, museums will get first refusal over whether to acquire the hoards.

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