How a gold and silver treasure was found in Newbury

A Thatcham treasure hunter who was part of a group of detectorists who discovered a hoard of Roman and Celtic gold and silver will speak to visitors to West Berks Museum on Saturday (July 20), showing off her finds and spreading the message that “no one should give up on a site, regardless of whether it has been discovered before”.

“Meet the Detectorists” takes place between 10:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. as part of the Archaeology Festival.

Come to this free event and learn how public reporting on archaeological finds can rewrite our knowledge of human history.

Jana Little’s History Hunters group was given permission to search a local property where significant finds have been made in the past.

Although some of the older members pointed out that the fields had been “deadened” over the years, the group continued the search.

“The usual finds presented themselves – the odd button, a piece of lead or a random piece of metal, so the sky was the limit,” Ms Little said.

The fields didn’t yield much, but one of the team managed to find a battered hammer.

As one of the hunters entered the last field, he declared, “I have a good feeling about this.”

Another detectorist dug deeper and pulled out a beautiful Roman Republican denarius, then another.

“Wherever he went, his bags filled up with more and more denari,” Ms. Little recalled.

Later, he produced a perfect gold stater – a coin of the Kentish king Verica. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” he declared as he placed the stater in his capsule, which was now filled with nine republican denarii.

“Just three steps away he had the exact same signal and out popped another gold stater, this time with a beautiful maple leaf motif.

Then Mrs Little got lucky herself and pulled out a Quinctius denarius from 112 BC, followed by a “beautiful Mark Anthony”.

“The last three hours of the day were filled with excited joy every time someone dug up yet another silver or gold coin,” Ms Little said.

“In disbelief, the team called the discovery liaison officer, who left another voicemail.

“I’m sure the FLO was probably enjoying his day off and didn’t expect to be harassed by a horde of excited detectorists.”

In the end, the count amounted to 13 gold staters and 25 republican denarii (Fig. 13).

The treasure of gold and silver coins is currently being recorded by archaeologists.

The field is located very close to a known Celtic settlement, so it is very likely that someone’s belongings were buried there to be recovered later if needed. However, they were never found.

“Modern detectors have changed,” Ms Little said.

“They go deeper, so a 15-year-old site may have been discovered but will never be completely empty.

“There is so much land around our beautiful, historic Newbury and it is guaranteed to be full of treasures.

“I am doing extensive historical research to pinpoint these locations. However, it is almost impossible to obtain permission for these fields.

“If you are interested in talking about detective work, come to Newbury Museum this Saturday.

“I’ll show my finds, talk about the National Metal Detecting Council and if you’re lucky and own a field, I might tell you where to dig.”