The Jersey Hoard (Grouville Hoard)

The last coins from an ancient Celtic hoard discovered in a field in Jersey were removed from the conglomerate they were buried in in 2020. Dating from around 30-50 BC, the collection of 69,347 coins was six times larger than any other similar Celtic artifacts and also included jewellery, beads and fabric. The hoard was probably buried by a tribe of Curiosilitae Celts. Historians believe they were fleeing Gaul to avoid Julius Caesar's armies around 50 to 60 BC.

The Jersey Hoard (Grouville Hoard) is a hoard of late Iron Age and Roman coins discovered in June 2012. It was discovered in a field in the parish of Grouville on the east side of Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Jersey Heritage's conservation team have been excavating an area known to contain gold jewelery. One end of a solid gold torc was uncovered. The find follows the discovery of two other solid gold torcs - one gold-plated and one of an unknown alloy - along with a silver brooch and a crushed sheet gold tube.

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At least 50,000 coins dating back to the time of Julius Caesar were found in a field in Jersey. The Roman and Celtic coins, which date from the 1st Century BC, were found by two metal detector enthusiasts. Archaeologists said the hoard weighed about three quarters of a tonne.

It is the first hoard of coins found in the island for more than 60 years. Several hoards of Celtic coins have been found in Jersey before but the largest was in 1935 at La Marquanderie when more than 11,000 were discovered.

This is the world's biggest Celtic coin hoard ever, and was a significant part of a tribe's wealth. It is also one of the world's biggest coin hoards and certainly the biggest coin hoard found in Britain. The value of the hoard was estimated at up to £10m when it was first removed from the ground.

Trajan - alimenta

Circa A.D. 103 to 111 gold aureus of Trajan. The coin was struck at Rome and depicts a laureate and draped bust of Trajan on its obverse. Trajan also appears on the reverse, where he is standing facing left, a scroll in his left hand, extending his right hand to two children standing with their arms raised toward him. The inscription below, ALIM ITAL, is a reference to the alimenta. Graded Very Fine the coin made $2,000 in 2020.

TRAJAN AR silver denarius. Annona standing, child at her feet. ALIM ITAL, Alimenta Italia.

Alimentary grants (alimenta) were a form of state support in Italy for citizen children, initiated by Emperor Nerva and expanded under Trajan. Unlike previous grain doles, which were privately funded and limited to Rome, the new initiative was a state-funded subsidy at regular intervals for children all across Italy. Trajan’s pride in the alimenta led to a series of coins in gold, silver and bronze to commemorate it. This program continued under his successor and lasted into the mid-third century.

Great torc from Snettisham

The Great Torc from Snettisham or Snettisham Great Torc is a large Iron Age torc or neck ring in electrum, from the 1st century BC.

It is one of the finest pieces of early Celtic art known. It was the most spectacular object in the Snettisham Hoard, found in 1950 near the village of Snettisham in Norfolk, East Anglia. The perfectly intact torc is noted for its high level of craftsmanship and artistry. Soon after its discovery it was acquired by the British Museum.It had been buried with a bracelet and a French coin, which helped date the torc to around 75 BC.

The hoard consists of metal, jet and more than 150 gold/silver/copper alloy torc fragments, more than 70 of which form complete torcs. The Great Torc weighs slightly more than 1 kg and is mostly made of gold alloyed with a small fraction of silver. The torc was made in two ways: complex threads of metal were grouped into ropes and twisted around each other to create the crescent shaped necklace; the ends of the torc were cast in moulds with La Tène designs and welded onto the metal ropes to create the whole composition. It has been conjectured that the area around Snettisham may have been connected with royalty from the Iceni tribe. The Great torc from Snettisham could belong to no one else.

Research by the British Museum reveals the wear patterns in the torcs, the chemical composition of the metal and the cut marks that reduced many of them to fragments. One hypothesis suggests the deliberate destruction of valuable items was a form of votive offering.

The Coggalbeg hoard

The Coggalbeg hoard is an Early Bronze Age hoard of three pieces of Irish gold jewellery dating to 2300–2000 BC. It was found in a bog at Coggalbeg, County Roscommon in 1945, and consists of a gold lunula and two small gold discs. It's thought that the objects were ritually deposited as an offering to gods. The lunula is of the "Classical" type, considered the earliest and finest of three types of lunula. Of the estimated 100 lunula known in Western Europe, some 80 originate in Ireland.

The priceless gold was first discovered by farmer Hubert Lannon. He found it in a bog while cutting turf and kept it at home. In March 2010, two men pleaded guilty to burglary and were given three-year suspended sentences. Working with police, curators from the National Museum’s Irish Antiquities Division found out that the jewelry had been left in a dumpster in Dublin. The police had hours to locate the dumpster before the trash would be collected. The detectives waded through a dumpster and found the treasures. The necklace and two discs are among the most important archaeological discoveries in Ireland for many years.

Brutus aureus brings $2m

An aureus of Marcus Junius Brutus sold for €1.9 million ($2 million) at a Geneva auction in 2025, far exceeding its €800k estimate. Described as “one of the most iconic and historically significant coins in all of Roman history” it is one of 17 known to exist.The coin was minted following Brutus’s 44 B.C.E. murder of Julius Caesar, and before his suicide following defeat in the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C.E.

Brutus on an Ides of March coin, issued shortly before his death.

The Battle of Philippi, involving up to 200,000 men was the largest of the Roman civil wars. It consisted of two battles in the plain west of the ancient city of Philippi. The first occurred in the first week of October. Brutus faced Octavian, and Antony's forces fought those of Cassius. Cassius comitted suicide after losing, but the overall battle was a draw. A second encounter, on 23 October, finished off Brutus's forces after a hard-fought hand to hand battle. Brutus took his own life in turn.

Aegina’s Sea Turtle

Aegina is a rocky island in the Saronic Gulf located about 25 miles southeast of Athens. It was settled around 900 BCE and was named after the daughter of the Greek river god Asopos. The inhabitants became expert merchants and tradesmen, dominating the shipping industry early in the sixth century BCE. Their success brought the island great wealth and power. The first coins were thought to be made by the king of Argos, Pheidon. Coins with the turtle design were an important early global trade currency.

Aegina became the first of the Greek city-states to issue coined money, starting in the mid-sixth century BCE. Their common didrachm “stater” coinage weighed about 12.6 grams. Their status as the first international trade currency was aided by consistent design. Aegina’s coins spread far throughout the known world.

Choice Tiberius among Heritage offerings

A rare Tiberius aureus represents a high-grade example of the "Tribute Penny" type, which was the standard gold currency throughout most of his AD 14–37 reign. The coins feature the laureate head of Tiberius (obverse) and the seated figure of Livia as Pax (reverse). The Pontifex Maximus was the highest-ranking chief priest in ancient Rome’s state religion, overseeing the College of Pontiffs

Tiberius (AD 14-37). AV aureus. NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Lugdunum.

Heritage offers spectacular ancients. A choice Tiberius aureus will make $10k.

Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). AV aureus. NGC Choice MS★ 5/5 - 5/5.

The auction was crowned by a Mint State example of a Lydian ‘Light Series’ Stater, introduced under the rule of Croesus.

Meteorite smashed into Earth 12,800 years ago

Scientists in South Africa have discovered new evidence that the Earth was struck by a meteorite or asteroid 12,800 years ago, causing global climate change and mass extinction. Soil samples from an archaeological site called Wonderkrater outside a small town north of Pretoria found a spike in platinum levels, which they say supports the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The theory assumes that a disintegrating asteroid, which is high in platinum, impacted Earth, causing an ice age. Many large species were wiped out as a result off the Earth’s rapid cooling. The impact from the asteroid or comet sent dust into the air, which might have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching Earth.

Pollen from various plants also reveal a much cooler period, which is called the Younger Dryas. Scientists believe human populations may have also have been negatively affected.

The late Quaternary archaeological site Wonderkrater, located in the Limpopo Province in South Africa, consists of a large spring and peat mound with deposits dated to more than 30,000 years ago. With the rich information this Middle Stone Age site has yielded, it was an ideal place to look for evidence of the “platinum spike” associated with the Younger Dryas, which had not previously been found on the African continent. A team of researchers found such evidence in the form of temperature changes based on pollen analysis.

The Trier Gold Hoard

The Trier Gold Hoard consists of over 2500 gold coins with a weight of 18.5 kg found in Trier, Germany, during construction works. On 9 September 1993, an excavator unearthed and ripped apart a bronze cauldron during excavations for an underground parking garage. The Trier Hoard is described as the largest preserved Roman gold hoard worldwide.

A Dutch man faced attempted robbery charges for the failed theft of the Trier Hoard. In 2019, a group of men broke into the Rhineland State Museum with the intention to steal the hoard. The group entered the museum by scaling scaffolding and prying open a window. Inside, they discovered a thick pane of glass reinforced with steel mesh. It proved too difficult to remove. Within three minutes the alarm went off, prompting the thieves to flee.

Part of the cauldron and some coins went to a dump site, initially unnoticed. An amateur archaeologist, Erich Eixner went back to the excavation site at night and found the larger part of the bronze cauldron, containing 560 coins and an additional lump of 1500 coins. He informed authorities and received about 20,000 DM, a fraction of their worth. The oldest coins were struck by Nero in 63/64 AD, the youngest under Septimius Severus between 193 and 196.

Iron Age Gold Hoard Brings £33,200

The largest known hoard of Iron Age coins to be deposited during the reign of King Dubnovellaunos, who ruled the Trinovantes between 25 BC and 10 AD, fetched a combined hammer price of £33,200. 16 staters and one quarter-stater were found.

All of the Staters in the hoard are inscribed, and they can be attributed to two figures: Addedomaros and Dubnovellaunos. These are leaders to different tribes: the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes respectively. Trinovantian staters, minted primarily in the 1st century BC to early 1st century AD in Essex, are typically composed of gold alloyed with silver and copper, showing a gradual debasement over time. Composition of the 5.4gm-5.6gm coin was 46%–48% Gold (Au), 8%–15% Silver (Ag), and 38%–44% Copper.

Researchers stumble over evidence of King Midas

Archaeologists were investigating an ancient mound site in central Turkey called Türkmen-Karahöyük in 2020.

A local farmer told the group that a nearby canal, recently dredged, revealed the existence of a strange stone, marked with an unknown inscription. The script was written in ancient Luwian. Researchers found that the hieroglyphs on this ancient stone block – called a stele – boasted of a military victory. And not just any military victory, but the defeat of Phrygia, a kingdom of Anatolia that existed roughly 3,000 years ago.

The royal house of Phrygia was ruled by a few Midas, but dating of the stele (8th century BC) suggests the block's hieroglyphics are referring to the King Midas.The mound at Türkmen-Karahöyük.

The Sword of Charlemagne

Joyeuse is the name traditionally attributed to Charlemagne's personal sword. The sword of Joyeuse, which resides in the Louvre Museum, is one of the most famous swords in history.

Historical records link the sword to Charlemagne the Great, King of the Franks. The story begins in 802 AD. Legend says that the sword was forged by the famous blacksmith Galas, and took three years to complete. The sword was described as having magical powers. It was said to have been so bright that it could outshine the sun and blind its wielder's enemies in battle, and any person who wielded it could not be poisoned.

Charlemagne (742-814 AD) did much to define medieval Europe. After the fall of the Roman Empire, he was the first to reunite Western Europe. He ruled a kingdom that encompassed what is now France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and the Low Countries. The sword was moved to the Louvre in 1793 following the French Revolution. It was last used by a French king in 1824 with the crowning of Charles X. The pommel (top fitting) of the sword dates from the 10th and 11th centuries, the cross to the second half of the 12th century, and the grip to the 13th century. The grip once featured a fleur-de-lis, but was it removed for the coronation of Napoleon I in 1804.