A HOARD of Roman silver coins uncovered at Leintwardine could soon be heading home – with few clues as to how they first got there.

The coins are currently in the care of Herefordshire Museum Service having been donated by the finder and owner.

Believed to be the contents of a purse scattered by ploughing, the coins were found by a metal detectorist in the Leintwardine area over a six-month period.

The hoard includes one coin of Augustus, five of Tiberius and one of Nero and are dated to around AD 59 – when Nero was Emperor.

The nature of the hoard has prompted speculation amongst museum staff as to how it came to be in Leintwardine and plans are underway to display the coins in the village sometime in the future.

The coins are among a range of newly classified “treasure” finds brought to light locally by metal detectorists.

While the Leintwardine hoard was donated, many of the other finds housed in the city’s museum were subject to the treasure classification process and required the paying of a reward.

Two Bronze Age axes now on display having been uncovered metres apart from each other either side of a road near Weobley.

Dated to 2200-1900 BC, the fragmentary axes are believed to have been buried together, but disturbed when the road was built.

Axes of this type are rarely found in western Britain – but Herefordshire Museum Service has four of them.

Meanwhile, the story behind the small but intricately detailed gold ring newly acquired by Herefordshire Museum Service has been buried for centuries.

Worn as a pledge of love – or maybe an adornment to draw attention – the ring detected at Moreton-on-Lugg dates to the late Medieval period around 1300-1450 AD.

As a piece, it is prominent in spite of its size.

The gold hoop of the ring widens towards a bezel of seven cusps and has been adapted to hold a crescentshaped blue stone identified as a sapphire.

A medieval silver brooch detected at Eardisley is a little easier to attach a story to. Such brooches were simply popular period accessories.

The Eardisley brooch has been “customised” with three deeply incised groves to make three areas with triangular panels.

These, in turn, have been decorated with punched circular rings.

In Leinthall Starkes, a detectorist exposed a silver button dated by the service as “post medieval – that is 1500-1700 AD. The button is made of two parts and is thought to have been originally soldered together.

l Hereford Museum and Art Gallery on Broad Street can be contacted on 01432 260692 or email herefordmuseums@ herefordshire.

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