ENGLISH COIN HOARDS, c.973–1544

This is a comprehensive list of hoards found in England and deposited between Edgar’s reform and the debasement of 1544, principally based upon my previous surveys of the hoards of c.973–1158 and 1158–1544, with revisions and the addition of new finds. It is arranged in chronological order, according to the suggested dates of deposit. In the first section, from c.973 to 1279, the reigns and types of the English coins are indicated, foreign coins are noted, and the number of coins is stated, as far as it can be determined. The format is slightly different in the second section (from 1279), listing the latest English coins in the hoard, the presence of Irish, Scottish or Continental coins, and the numbers of gold, silver, billon or copper coins. In both sections the monetary value of the hoard at the time it was deposited is stated, where known.

Each entry includes references to original hoard publications and previous hoard listings. The most informative of these listings, although it is increasingly out-of-date, is Thompson’s Inventory of British coin hoards, which covers hoards to 1500, but there are many more recent lists for specific periods. The Fitzwilliam Museum has compiled an online ‘Checklist of Coin Hoards from the British Isles c.450–1180’, which is based upon lists published by Dolley (to c.1105), Blackburn and Pagan (to 1100), Blackburn alone (coins of Henry I and of Stephen) and Crafter (1158–80). In addition to the surveys of English hoards of c.973–1158 and 1158–1544 already referred to, there are published inventories of hoards containing English coins of 1180–1247 and 1279–1351, and lists of finds including English pence of 1279–1544, Continental sterlings of Edwardian type and gold coins. The summary of post-1500 hoards published by Brown and Dolley covers the period after the end of Thompson’s Inventory, but in much less detail. Comprehensive coverage of all published references to the listed hoards is beyond the scope of this Appendix, and probably unattainable, as the literature of this subject is vast and very widely dispersed.