Coins found in Norfolk in 2017 and earlier

Norfolk Archaeology XLVIII (2018), 97–123 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY COINS FOUND IN NORFOLK IN 2017 AND EARLIER by Adrian Marsden A previous volume of this journal held an article on recent discoveries relating to irregular Roman coinage in Norfolk. This year’s roundup will consider various aspects of coins, coinage and coin use in the county, pulling together some of the material recorded in the past with more recent discoveries. It will also look at some of the more interesting coin hoards uncovered in the county during this century. The coins discussed here have all been found in 2017 or earlier but have been recorded in a number of ways. All coins found since the start of 2012 may be found on the Portable Antiquities Scheme (henceforth PAS) database at www.finds.org.uk under the relevant find number (usually beginning with the prefix NMS). Others have been recorded digitally on spreadsheets and entered electronically onto the Norfolk Historic Environment Record (henceforth HER) whilst a number may be found in the paper files of the HER; these paper files are currently being digitised. Others have not been officially recorded but enough is known of their origin to make them worth mentioning here. IRON AGE COINS A copper alloy coin die for a large flan Gallo-Belgic stater from Ludham (HER 58931, NMS-0480E3, figure 1) adds to the small number of Iron Age coin dies so far known from Britain. A very similar one has been recorded from Bredgar in Kent (KENT-2EEAF0). Both are probably irregular in origin and intended for the production of plated copies rather than genuine coinage. A plated copy of a stater struck from very similar dies was recovered from the important Iron Age site at Ken Hill, Snettisham (HER 1487, Marsden 2011, 52, Plate 1 no. 1). Much of the coinage at Snettisham was plated, raising the question that some of the pieces were deliberately manufactured as ‘Temple money’, lowvalue coinage with a symbolic rather than a monetary function (Marsden 2011, 53-4). The discovery in Britain of these dies for the production of what has been called a Gallo-Belgic coinage might suggest that elements of this coinage or at least the copies of it were not so very Gallo-Belgic at all. From a slightly later phase of Iron Age coin production, two blanks, one from Fransham (HER 24784, NMS-F1B253, Plate 1 no. 2) and the other an old find from Mid-Norfolk (Plate 2 no. 3), weigh 6.06g and 5.51g respectively. Both are manufactured from a pale gold that closely resembles the sort of alloy used to strike the less pure, more debased Norfolk Wolf type Figure 1. Iron Age copper alloy coin die from Ludham. Actual size. JB staters with a left-facing wolf. Specific gravity tests by Arent Pol of Leiden demonstrate a low gold content; the pieces await metallurgical analyses by the X-ray fluorescence technique. ROMAN IRREGULAR COINAGE The article on irregular Roman coin manufacture in a previous edition of this journal mentioned evidence for the striking of radiate imitations at Sporle (HER 34520, Marsden 2016, 422-3). A number of coins found at the 97 98 NORFOLK ARCHAEOLOGY similar situation to a site at Chateaubleau in France (Pilon 2016) where irregular coin production was carried out for many years and the coins themselves were produced in a bewildering variety of ways. MEDIEVAL AND POST-MEDIEVAL COINAGE Plate 1. A plated Gallo-Belgic stater and two blanks for producing staters. Actual size. Sporle site in the past are kept at Swaffham Museum and a visit there subsequent to the publication of that article uncovered another coin struck from the same pair of dies as one of the coins illustrated in an earlier article (Marsden 2016, plate 9.29). It is likely that more of the coins from Swaffham Museum will prove, in the fullness of time, to belong to die-groups common to the Sporle site. A cast copy of a radiate of Gallienus from Great Dunham (HER 61828, NMS-8898C4, Plate 2 no. 4) proved to have been either cast in the same mould or in a mould made using the same coin as a cast radiate in a private collection found at an uncertain location in Norfolk. Cast radiates and evidence for radiate manufacture have been recorded at the Sporle site mentioned above, less than three miles from Great Dunham (Marsden 2012, plate 7.34). The two coins could well have been part of the output of the Sporle coining workshop. If so, they demonstrate that at Sporle radiate imitations were being both cast and struck, a Plate 2. Cast copy of a radiate of Gallienus. Actual size. Continental sterling imitations of Edwardian long cross type pennies form an interesting coinage (Mayhew 1983). They date from the late 13th century and the first half of the fourteenth and, although they look broadly like their English counterparts, they usually carry bare or garlanded heads and their legends generally refer to their issuers and places of issue which are, of course, not English. They have been recorded in some numbers over the last twenty or so years and it is time to summarise these finds; over 130 have been placed on the HER since 2000 and they are listed in the accompanying table (Table 1). They clearly circulated across the county and sterlings of some issuers, in particular Gui of Dampierre, John of Avesnes and Gaucher of Chatillon, are shown to have been particularly common. Three odd items from the Wymondham area are most likely the casings of cliché copies of gold angels of Henry VIII (Plate 3 no. 5). Cliché copies were manufac- Plate 3. Putative cliché copies of gold angels of Henry VIII from Wymondham. Actual size. RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY 99 Table 1. Caption Mayhew Name of issuer and mint Date Findspot and HER number 1 Gui of Dampierre, Alost c.1288-92 Attleborough 36060 1 Gui of Dampierre, Alost c.1288-92 Grimston 32100 1 Gui of Dampierre, Alost c.1288-92 Woodbastwick 51396 1ff [?] Gui of Dampierre [?] c.1288-92 Snetterton 60676 2ff Gui of Dampierre, Alost 1279-1305 Hevingham 40978 6 Gui of Dampierre, Alost 9 Gui of Dampierre, Namur c.1296 Shouldham 37132 13 Gui of Dampierre, uncertain c.1292-6 Beachamwell 23536 13 Gui of Dampierre, uncertain c.1292-6 Sandringham 54049 13 Gui of Dampierre, uncertain c.1292-6 West Rudham 33551 Outwell 49897 13ff Gui of Dampierre, uncertain c.1292-6 Ludham 36233 16 Gui of Dampierre, uncertain c.1296 Oxborough 2634 17 Gui of Dampierre, uncertain 1279-1305 Heacham 51073 19 Gui of Dampierre, Damme c.1299 Great Dunham 49128 20 Gui of Dampierre, Damme c.1297-9 Shouldham 28385 21 Gui of Dampierre, Damme c.1297-9 Sedgeford 59938 21 Gui of Dampierre, Damme c.1297-9 Snetterton 59675 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Cawston 34606 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Dereham 52875 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Foxley 36599 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Heacham 51072 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Martham 19383 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Runcton Holme 53709 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Runhall 60188 24 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Sedgeford 40264 26 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1304 Fincham 56938 28 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-8 Thetford 30 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Barnham Broom 28370 30 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1290-1 Rocklands 40488 32 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1297-9 Bawburgh 37461 32 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1297-9 Emneth 40547 32 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1297-9 Sandringham 3257 32 John of Avesnes, Valenciennes c.1297-9 Wreatton 39879 34 John of Avesnes, Mons 1296-7 Attleborough 55464 34 John of Avesnes, Mons 1296-7 Barnham Broom 28370 34 John of Avesnes, Mons 1296-7 Burgh Castle 23792 34 John of Avesnes, Mons 1296-7 Runcton Holme 28741 35 John of Avesnes, Mons 1296-7 Shouldham 28385 36 John of Avesnes, Mons c.1297 Crimplesham 52820 36 John of Avesnes, Mons c.1297-1304 Hillington 29913 39 John of Avesnes, Mauberge 1293-7 Hilborough 25326 100 NORFOLK ARCHAEOLOGY Table 1 cont. Mayhew Name of issuer and mint Date Findspot and HER number 39 John of Avesnes, Mauberge c.1294-7 Snettisham 31666 39 John of Avesnes, Mauberge c.1293-7 South Walsham 11859 43 John I of Brabant, uncertain c.1279-88 Mautby 36646 43 John I of Brabant, uncertain c.1279-88 Pentney 50319 43 John I of Brabant, uncertain c.1288-96 Yaxham 61698 43 [?] John I/II of Brabant c.1279-88 West Acre 32619 48 John II of Brabant, Brussels or Louvain c.1296-1300 Quidenham 35409 48ff John II of Brabant, Brussels or Louvain c.1296-1300 Kenninghall 19545 54 John II of Brabant, Maastricht 1294-1312 Hilborough 49080 54ff John II of Brabant, Maastricht c.1294-1312 Narborough 34960 62 Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 Emneth 40567 62 Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 Fincham 37136 67 [?] Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 Ditchingham 61685 68 Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 Fincham 58367 78 Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 East Rudham 41004 78 var. Arnold V of Looz, Hasselt 1279-1323 Cringleford 40133 80 John of Louvain, Herstal c.1298-1309 Edgefield 44036 82 John of Louvain, Herstal c.1295-1300 Wreatton 39879 84 John of Louvain, Herstal c.1298-1309 Foulsham 39628 88 William of Hainaut, Cambrai 1285-96 Marham 50017 91 William of Hainaut, Cambrai 1285-96 Rocklands 55024 99 Gui of Collemede, Cambrai c.1297-8 Cawston 43114 99 Gui of Collemede, Cambrai c.1297-8 Keswick 40248 99 Gui of Collemede, Cambrai c.1297-8 Shipdham 101ff Hugh of Chalon, Statte 1296-1301 Stow Bardolph 51163 112 Henry IV of Luxemburg, Meraude 1288-1309 Roudham 51480 121 Thibault of Lorraine, Florennes c.1298-1300 Hillington 29913 121 [?] Thibault of Lorraine, Florennes c.1298-1300 Stow Bedon 55139 175-8 Henry of Kuinre, Kuinre 1280-1304 Fransham 20587 184 Robert of Gelderland, Arnhem c.1290 Barton Turf 60413 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317 Deopham 58934 (from a hoard) 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 Hockwold-cum-Wilton 17102 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 Kempstone 61359 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 Marham 37452 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 Northwold 61960 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 Pentney 33433 211 Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317 Salthouse 44081 211ff Robert of Bethune, Alost c.1317-22 South Walsham 36589 214 Robert of Bethune, XXXX c.1317-22 Hevingham 7633 223 Valeran II of Ligny, Serain 1304-53 Walcott 56250 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY 101 Table 1 cont. Mayhew Name of issuer and mint Date Findspot and HER number 233 John of Flanders, Arleux c.1308-25 Methwold 22364 237 [?] Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Erpingham 28899 237ff Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Bintree 31065 237ff Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 North Lopham 53896 237ff Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Scole 32988 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Binham 34639 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Deopham 41108 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Deopham 60440 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Foulsham 35718 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Foulsham 35718 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Foulsham 40307 239 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Woodbastwick 49078 244 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Bagthorpe 59868 244 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Colby 50255 244ff Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Beeston-with-Bittering 44099 245 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Runcton Holme 56022 245/6 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Walcott 56250 247 Gaucher of Chatillon, Yves 1313-22 Kelling 58094 248 Gaucher of Chatillon, Neufchateau c.1318-22 Barton Bendish 20399 248 Gaucher of Chatillon, Neufchateau c.1318-22 Postwick 20434 248 Gaucher of Chatillon, Neufchateau c.1318-22 Wymondham 36823 265 John the Blind of Bohemia, Luxemburg c.1320-44 Pentney 16583 265 John the Blind of Bohemia, Luxemburg c.1320-44 West Acre 28744 268 John the Blind of Bohemia, Luxemburg 1309-46 Heacham 51073 274 John the Blind of Bohemia, Luxemberg 1344-6 Hevingham 41316 274 [?] John the Blind of Bohemia, Luxemberg 1344-6 Fincham 30059 276 John the Blind of Bohemia, Meraude 1309-46 Ryburgh 61747 276/7 John the Blind of Bohemia, Meraude c.1309-22 Stiffkey 277 John the Blind of Bohemia, Meraude c.1320-35 Beeston-with-Bittering 61728 284 John the Blind of Bohemia, Damvillers c.1335-46 Snetterton 31181 287 1344-6 Oxborough 33543 296 John the Blind of Bohemia, Marche-enFamenne Louis of Nevers, Rethel 1290-1322 Costessey 49041 309 Ferry of Lorraine, Lorraine or Toul c.1312-28 Griston 37697 309 Ferry of Lorraine, Lorraine or Toul c.1312-28 Quidenham 32254 314 John of Arzilieres, Toul c.1320 Attleborough 56965 314 John of Arzilieres, Toul c.1320 Stody 28639 332 Louis IV of Bavaria, Aachen 1314-37 North Tuddenham 16592 334 Louis IV of Bavaria, Aachen c.1319-28 Deopham 41108 336 Louis IV of Bavaria, Aachen 1314-47 Langley with Hardley 52636 336 Louis IV of Bavaria, Aachen 1328-47 Thornham 1313 102 NORFOLK ARCHAEOLOGY Table 1 cont. Mayhew Name of issuer and mint Date Findspot and HER number cf357 Maria of Namur, Meraude (halfpenny) 1342-53 Langley-with-Hardley 31397 360 Maria of Namur, Meraude 1342-53 Raynham 60219 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1337-48 Blakeney 41991 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1342-53 Great Dunham 45401 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1342-53 Heacham 16297 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1342-53 Oxborough 23506 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1342-53 Oxborough 33543 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1342-53 Postwick 31762 361 William of Namur, Namur c.1344-53 Snetterton 31181 363 [?] William of Namur, Namur c.1337-53 Ashmanhaugh 42652 365 William of Namur, Meraude 1353-91 Alderford 35764 367 var. William of Namur, Viesville c.1350-60 Fincham 16537 - John of Namur, Namur 1297-1330 Langley-with-Hardley 49852 Plate 4. Heavily clipped sixpences and a shilling. Actual size. tured by impressing sheet metal discs into lead moulds and leaving them in situ; the moulds were then paired up and filled with a lead or pewter alloy. Thus the sheet metal discs would form a plating on the finished coin. Each disc is a repousse sheet with what appear to be partially gilded surfaces on the exterior. The interiors are somewhat accreted. It is possible that these strange objects fulfilled some other purpose – they may, for example have been themselves simple moulds – but a function as components in the production of forged coinage seems certain. The clipping of the silver coinage reached a peak in the 17th century and the clipping of individual coins could be extreme. Generally, a number of coins that have been excessively clipped are recorded every year such as clipped Elizabeth sixpences from Postwick (HER 30401, Plate 4 no. 6) and Sisland (HER 21871, NMS-BCD403, Plate 4 no. 7), a shilling of Charles I from Wymondham (HER 37523, Plate 4 no. 8), and a sixpence of the same king also from Wymondham (HER 24641, Plate 4 no. 9). Much rarer are the clippings themselves but one example was recovered at Ryston (Plate 5 no. 10, HER 56973, NMS-BF9A73), probably lost during the course of a clipping session. Hoards of clippings have been recorded from outside Norfolk, from Littledean, Gloucestershire (GLO-0794E0), Holmesfield, Derbyshire (DENO789371), Boroughbridge, Yorkshire (YORYM-FE4702), and Stocksbridge, Yorkshire (SWYOR-AEF0A6), but sadly none from inside the county. It is clear that the clippings were then melted down – in an unchanged state they would have been terribly incriminating for anyone possessing them – and the silver, assuming it was not simply sold as bullion, then used in one of two ways. It could either be used to plate the cores of forged hammered silver coins or, with base metal added, used to cast forgeries in lower- RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY Plate 5. Clipped edge of a Charles I shilling from Ryston. Actual size. quality silver. Both types of fake are known from the period and the clipping of silver coin had clearly reached epidemic proportions, presumably during the English Civil War and the concomitant breaking down of authority across various parts of the kingdom. TOKENS Lead tokens are common in some parts of the country. For example, many examples are found in Kent where many seem to have been associated with hop-picking in the post-medieval period. In Suffolk, a large number of so-called Boy Bishop tokens occur; these occur in either groat or penny size and were distributed at Bury Plate 6. Lead and copper alloy tokens. Actual size. 103 in the Medieval period during the week-long festival when a boy held the office of Bishop. They date to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and production must have ceased at the very latest by the time of the Reformation in the 1530s. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this usage in Suffolk, few Boy Bishops reached Norfolk and they are not common finds in this county. It may be that those that did were circulating as lowvalue currency. However, the finding of three at a site at Caston (HER 52640, NMS-75D575, NMS-1417F7, NMS-C91400, Plate 6 nos 12-13), together with three ampullae and a cut half of a papal bulla, may imply that they continued to be regarded as holy items after their use as tokens and were regarded as suitable souvenirs to be taken away from shrines by pilgrims and visitors. Two other groups of lead tokens from Norfolk bearing religious imagery are worth mentioning. Five tokens from a site at Sandringham (HER 3257, NMS-05E923, Plate 6 no. 14) have all been cast from the same mould and must have been produced in the immediate locality. One on side five pellets form the centre and points of a cross within a circle and, on the other, a cross within a circle is encircled by a border of pellets. The purpose of these tokens is uncertain. Two large-sized tokens from a field at North 104 NORFOLK ARCHAEOLOGY Elmham (HER 2929, NMS-2CB549 and NMS-2CBFF1, Plate 6 nos 15-16) carry unusual iconography. The obverse shows the top portion of a crozier and the reverse a sword flanked on each side by a quatrefoil of pellets. North Elmham had an interesting history as a Christian centre; in the Anglo-Saxon period a bishopric was located there. It was the site of a chapel founded by Bishop Herbert de Losinga in the late eleventh or early twelfth century which was later fortified by another bishop, Henry le Despencer, in the late fourteenth century. The bishop’s crozier and a sword would be apt symbols for the martial Henry Le Despencer and would fit a late 14th-century date. The work of the Norfolk Token Project on Norfolk’s 17th-century token series, discussed in the 2015 edition of this journal (Marsden 2015), is ongoing and several new discoveries have been made both in terms of important finds of tokens and in terms of new research. The locations of well over 2,000 token finds have now been recorded, enabling ever more representative distribution maps to be produced in the future. A hitherto unknown Essex farthing token was found at Ditchingham (HER 62166, NMS-3CDDBE, Plate 6 no. 17). It carries the name of John Llawd based at the Bull in Grays Thurrock, Essex and is dated 1662. Study of online records revealed that a John Floyd, son of Rice and Mary, was baptised at Manewden St. Mary the Virgin, Essex, on 14th June 1635 and a John Floyd was buried at Theydon Garnon All Saints, Essex, on 6th August 1682. Either or both of these could refer to the token issuer. The NTP is currently carrying out much research on the biographies and lives of individual issuers. Some prove to have lived interesting and unusual lives such as Stephen Tracey of Great Yarmouth, born in 1596, who became a Pilgrim Father, travelling to Massachusetts in 1623 and remaining in New England for some thirty years before returning to Yarmouth and issuing his token (Marsden 2017). His nuncupative will survives in the Norfolk Record Office and the lion on his token (Plate 6 no. 18) refers to the Old White Lion, a building that still survives in Great Yarmouth although it is no longer in use as a tavern. Augustine Briggs (Plate 6 no. 19), a grocer who fought for king Charles I at the siege of King’s Lynn in 1643 became Sheriff of Norwich at the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Mayor in 1670 and Member of Parliament in 1677. Two paintings of him survive, one showing him in his mayoral robes and the other in the finery of a cavalier (Plate 7). His imposing wall memorial may still be seen inside St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, whilst the city also boasts a street named after him, now Brigg Street. Plate 7. Portrait of Augustine Briggs, Mayor of Norwich, 1670. Norfolk Museums Service HOARDS Although this coin roundup has been published for nearly twenty years almost no mention has been made in it of the various coin hoards from the county. These are published online on the PAS database and in the Annual Treasure Report although publication in both media can often be very slow, running years behind. Here PAS database numbers are given as well as Treasure reference numbers in the form of the year followed by the unique Treasure number. In the last twenty years two important votive assemblages dating to the late Iron Age have been unearthed, one at the important site of Ken Hill, Snettisham (HER 1487) and another elsewhere in North West Norfolk (HER 31666, NMS-2193C4, 2014 T111). The coins from Ken Hill have been published elsewhere (Marsden 2011); the assemblage comprised a broad spread of coinage, much local but some foreign, including two Carthaginian bronzes dating to the third century BC (Plate 8 no. 20) as well as a number of other Greek coins. These attest to how far even low- RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY Plate 8. Carthaginian coins from Snettisham. Actual size. value coins might travel in the Ancient World even to areas of the world that do not seem to have really been coin-using at the time. Probably these coins were being chosen for use as votives on account of the zoomorphic designs that they carried. The high percentage of plated coins at Ken Hill was noteworthy – perhaps this false coinage was used because the act of giving was felt to be the significant matter and not necessarily the value of the coin in question. The North West Norfolk assemblage contained a large number of quarter staters as well as over twenty denarii dating from the Roman Republic until early in the reign of Hadrian, surely a dispersed hoard. This may suggest that, unlike at Snettisham, activity continued at the North West Norfolk site until at least the second quarter of the second century AD. Alternatively, the coins may represent a hoard concealed in a deserted sacred space. A dispersed hoard from Sculthorpe (HER 60383, NMS-DA0078, 2015T501) consisting of twenty staters, a mixture of Gallo-Belgic E types and Norfolk Wolf JA types, also contained four Bury C type silver units, apparently struck from the same pair of dies. The gold staters are very early in the sequence of Iron Age coins found in Britain and, if the silver units are of similar date (which seems very likely), then the origins of the Bury C coinage must be pushed back in time considerably to stand at the start of silver unit production in the Icenian dominions. This coinage (and perhaps some of the other Face-horse type issues) may predate the Boarhorse issues or at least be contemporary with them. Many Roman coin hoards have been recovered in the last twenty or so years. A number of early hoards terminating with emperors of the earlier JulioClaudian dynasty, such as groups from Wymondham (HER 61289, NMS-A6F891, 2016T789), Old Buckenham (NMS-6F2101), Quidenham (HER 60859, NMS-480CEE), and Mattishall (HER 52837, in two batches: NMS-62D0F5, 2009 T318, and NMS-2B7C33, 2012 T488) are of a mixed composition, containing Iron Age silver units and sometimes staters as well as Roman silver denarii. Others, such as a hoard from Pulham St. Mary (HER 56942, in four batches: NMS-A00F04, 2012 T810, NMS-0F1E88, 2014 T94, NMS-00AFB2, 2015 T506, NMS-F70106, 2016 T871) are probably best interpreted as hoards assembled by 105 Plate 9. Pennies of Edward the Elder from Quidenham. Actual size. Roman immigrants, containing as they do no silver units but only denarii. Sometimes the discovery of two hoards can raise interesting questions about the topography of a site in the past. Two hoards from East Carleton, one of 24 denarii (in two batches: NMS-7029D3, 2015 T858 and NMS-B433DE, 2017 T565) and the other of nine siliquae, many clipped (in two batches: NMS-707227, 2015 T859, and NMS-074379, 2017 T563), were found in precisely the same area (HER 60916). The hoard of denarii cannot have been deposited much later than c. 150 whilst that of siliquae cannot have gone into the ground before c. 400. The only reasonable conclusion is that there was, during the Roman period, a distinctive feature in the landscape that endured for at least two and a half centuries. This feature was then picked as a suitable marker by two individuals concealing hoards many generations apart. Hoards of the large early Roman bronze denominations collectively known as aes are less common than those of silver, coinage of silver being a preferred medium for hoarding. Nonetheless, a few are known, one deposited in the Hadrianic period at Spixworth (HER 35669, NMS-FE69A6, 2010 T678), and two others of an Antonine date from Ingoldisthorpe (HER 1557, NMS-E07822, 2015 T857), and Edgefield (HER 58889, NMS-3D9D54, 2013 T617). 106 NORFOLK ARCHAEOLOGY Three other hoards, although composed primarily of aes of second century date, also contain 3rd-century issues, sometimes of irregular (usually cast) origin. These are from Colby (HER 61302, NMS-6E9CD8, 2016 T435), Wighton (HER 54132, NMS-E670B2, 2010 T373), and Scottow (HER 57042, in three batches: NMS-A64323, 2012 T217, NMS-D6A1E6, 2014 T277, and NMS-0B7521, 2014 T277). These fall within a particular category of aes hoards, dating to the 260s when the value of these coins as scrap metal exceeded their technical value as units within an ordered monetary system. One use to which these scrap hoards were put was the manufacture of irregular radiates (Marsden 2012) although, of course, the metal could have been used in the manufacture of many other objects. The Scottow group is particularly interesting; not only does it comprise over a hundred coins but also includes a fragment of copper alloy bar similar to those used in the manufacture of irregular radiates. Three hoards of the Anglo-Saxon coins known as sceattas have surfaced in Norfolk since the turn of the century; these have been published separately (Marsden 2013) although a few more coins have subsequently been recovered from each hoard. The Aldborough hoard now stands at 80 coins and the Loddon hoard at 56; this makes these two hoards the second and third largest respectively from Britain after the Aston Rowant, Oxfordshire hoard found in the 1970s. A small hoard of three pennies of Edward the Elder, all East-Anglian portrait types, were found at Quidenham (HER 60596, NMS-88D191, 2014 T769, Plate 9 no. 21). It is possible that they represent nothing more than a purse loss but their location, at the extreme edge of a field next to a road, suggests that many more coins may be either under the hedge or under the road or were removed by the workers making the road. The terminal date is remarkably close to the large Morley St. Peter hoard (HER 9117) of 883 pennies found in 1958 and suggests that there may have been some level of regional disturbance in the area following the death of Edward the Elder. The region was within the recently reconquered East Anglian Danelaw, an area which probably had little love for its new English masters. Quidenham and Morley St. Peter are only some five miles apart as the crow flies. Most of the other late Saxon hoards recovered are probably best interpreted as purse losses with the exception of a hoard of exactly 100 pennies from Leziate (HER 60461, NMS-82A834, 2015 T400). Nearly all are short cross issues of Cnut and, apart from a number of London coins, the vast majority were struck at Lincoln, Stamford or York. This is interesting and implies that most of the hoard was assembled in the Yorkshire or Lincolnshire area. A handful of local East Anglian issues presumably reflect coins added to the main group after it had travelled into the Norfolk area. Coin hoards of the Medieval period recovered in recent years have all had the appearance of purse losses with the exception of 285 coins from Haddiscoe, Edwardian sterlings scattered over an area (HER 60855, NMS-C8AA6F, 2015 T575). The group terminates with a handful of coins of class 4b, suggesting a date of deposition about 1282 or 1283. Since the sterling coinage did not commence until 1279 it is unsurprising that none show much wear. A hoard of seventeen Henry VIII groats from a field very close to Stanfield Hall (HER 55433, NMS-225734 and NMS-34DDF2, 2012 T193) is particularly interesting. It terminates with three coins of the third issue (1544-7) which have hardly circulated. It is usually difficult to connect hoards with known historical events but in this case we can convincingly link this hoard with the Kett Rebellion of 1549. In that year Stanfield Hall was owned by Sir John Flowerdew, a bitter opponent of Robert Kett and it seems likely that the Stanfield hoard was buried early in July 1549 when Kett’s men were marching on Norwich. Civil War hoards are few and far between in Norfolk, not surprising given that (with the exception of an uprising at King’s Lynn in 1642) the county was a staunch part of the Parliamentarian Eastern Association. In 2003, however, the largest known Civil War hoard from Norfolk was discovered at Haddiscoe (Marsden 2003, 167-8, 2003 T180). The 316 coins were spread over a wide area during construction work and there are rumours that more were illicitly retrieved. Even were this the case the hoard still had a face value of over £15, about a year’s wages for a trooper at the time. The circumstances of its deposition remain a mystery but the discovery of several sherds of slipware suggest that it might have been hidden in a vessel made from this fabric. April 2018 BIBLIOGRAPHY Marsden, A. B. 2003. ‘Haddiscoe, Norfolk: 316 17th-century coins (2003 T180)’, Treasure Annual Report 2003. Marsden, A. B. 2011. ‘The Iron Age coins from Snettisham’ in Davies, J. D (ed.), The Iron Age in Northern East Anglia: New Work in the land of the Iceni (BAR British series 549), 49-58. Marsden, A. B. 2012. ‘Irregular radiate production in 3rd-century Norfolk: an overview’, Norfolk Archaeology XLVI, 370-82. Marsden, A. B. 2013. ‘Three Recent Sceatta Hoards from Norfolk’, Norfolk Archaeology XLVI, 492-502. RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY Marsden, A. B. 2015. ‘Norfolk 17th century tokens and recent research by the Norfolk Token Project’, Norfolk Archaeology XLVII, 295-308. Marsden, A. B. 2016. ‘Irregular coinage in Roman Norfolk: an overview’, Norfolk Archaeology XLVII, 415-27. Marsden, A. B. 2017. ‘Tracing Stephen Tracey – a Pilgrim 107 Father from Great Yarmouth’, Yarmouth Archaeology and Local History 2017, 22-7. Mayhew, N. J. 1983. Sterling imitations of Edwardian type (London). Pilon, F. 2016. L’atelier monetaire de Chateaubleau. Gallia, 63rd supplement. MEDIEVAL SEAL MATRICES FROM NORFOLK, 2017 by Andrew Rogerson and Steven Ashley This paper is the twentieth part in a consecutive annual catalogue of medieval seal matrices to be published in this journal. As usual, impressions of all the matrices contained in this catalogue are available for study at Norwich Castle Museum. The catalogue is divided into sections headed thus: official secular, official religious; personal seals with arms; personal seals with names; personal seals with mottoes; with initials only; without inscription; illegible and unfinished. As far as possible entries are in alphabetical order. All matrices have been recorded on the database of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (www.finds.org.uk). A unique reference is given for each matrix. All begin NMS-. The organisation of the catalogue entries is as follows. Material, overall shape of matrix. Shape of die, and size. Central motif. Surrounding inscription (and translation). Any reference or supporting information. PAS reference. Parish name and HER number. The inscriptions of the impressions have been rendered as faithfully as possible, with illegible letters thus: ……….. Inferred letters have been put in square brackets. Some spaces have been added to make the reading clearer. There is no full stop added after the inscription to avoid confusion with any dot contained within the inscription itself. Figure 1. Seal matrices from Great Ellingham (1), Lessingham (2), Dereham (3) and Bixley (68). Scale 1:1. horseback, galloping to right. Only the tensed straight right leg of the knight survives, projecting at an angle with the foot in the stirrup. The trapper of the horse bears armorial decoration comprising large quatrefoils, which may represent any number of quatrefoils abstracted from a shield, from a single example to a Semy of quatrefoils. The head of the horse is covered with a shaffron or a hood with pelleted Fretty diapering. Under the horse is a small wyvern. ]SIGILL’ . BALDEWIN[ (Seal of Baldwin ?.........). NMS-174109. Great Ellingham 57316. (Figure. 1). Official secular seals, Official religious seals No seal matrices in either of these categories were reported this year. Personal seals with arms 1 Gilt copper alloy, flat, with a chamfered edge on the reverse, an old break with recent scuffing, about one half extant. Circular, 29mm. The front part of a knight on 2 Copper alloy, conical handle with pierced sub-oval terminal. Circular, 26mm. A shield bearing A fish niaiant between three rings [or buckles]. S : GILLES :· ILOSaVIL : (Seal of Giles Ilosavil). Worn black letter inscription,