Mystery as missing Roman hoard coins replaced by more valuable artefacts
Three ancient Roman coins found in Cornwall were taken and bizarrely replaced with artefacts that are more valuable, an inquest has heard.
The 56 coins, part of what is now known as the Lanivet Hoard, were discovered during four digs from newly ploughed fields in Lanivet between October 2017 and January 2020.
Members of the Mid Cornwall History Hunters group, who were metal detecting with permission from the landowner, made the discovery and reported the haul to Cornwall’s finds officer at the time.
A treasure inquest held in Truro yesterday heard how since the coins were initially photographed, three of them had been taken – only to be replaced with different coins that are even more valuable.
The inquest heard how 56 coins spanning a 200-year period were found in the same location during a series of digs.
Initially, 31 coins dating from the time of Nero, who was Roman emperor from AD54 to AD68, to Caracalla, who co-reigned between AD198 and AD217, were found.
Then one silver greek drachma, which was a Roman province at the time, dated to the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian was found, along with one copper Roman sestertius dating back to the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
During the inquest, Ms Tyacke said: ‘It’s quite rare to find so many coins together in a small area. It’s almost like they were curated.’
However, she said that more intriguing was that three of the coins from the original find in October 2017 were missing and had not been reported as treasure finds.
Instead, they were substituted with other Roman silver coins from the same period that were similar in appearance.
Ms Tyacke said the discrepancy arose when the original photographs of the first batch of 23 coins did not match up with the coins that were sent to the British Museum for identification and dating.
Ms Tyacke added: ‘The substitute coins looked similar to those found but are actually in a better condition and are more valuable than those they were swapped in for. The substitution does not make sense.’
She told the inquest that the missing coins from the original dig have never been found.
Ms Tyacke added: ‘The police were involved, who interviewed some of the people involved. But as it was someone’s word against another it was difficult to lead to a conclusion as no further evidence was found.
‘It’s all quite suspect but we couldn’t take it any further.’
A dig in October 2018 unearthed 11 more coins from the same hoard and more discoveries were made in 2019 and 2020.
When suspected treasure is discovered the UK it automatically goes to the Crown but in Cornwall it goes to the Duchy of Cornwall.
However, the Duchy disclaimed the Lanivet Hoard, which has now been acquired by the Royal Institution of Cornwall after being declared treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 by Guy Davies, assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
To classify as treasure, a discovery must be at least 300 years old and consist of at least 10 per cent precious metal.
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