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COIN FINDS of the
Huddersfield District
GRAHAM TEASDILL
Edited by E. W. AUBROOK, F.M.A.
THE TOLSON MEMORIAL MUSEUM HUDDERSFIELD
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COIN FINDS
OF
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CONTENTS
page Foreword
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FOREWORD
In preparing this handbook I have attempted to present all the available evidence before drawing my own conclusions, or supporting those put forward by others. It is hoped that this will provide a basis for further research and discussion by forming a collection of all the known facts relating to coins found in the Huddersfield district.
Coin finds should be reported to the Director, Tolson Memorial Museum, Ravensknowle Park, Huddersfield, who will ensur that they are adequately recorded.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express his gratitude to the following who have given valuable assistance in the preparation of this handbook.
F. Allen, B.A.,
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ANCIENT BRITISH COINS
The gold staters and silver coins used by the Ancient Britons were local copies of the gold stater of Philip If of Macedon, which was used extensively in trade towards the end of the pre- Christian era. The laureate head of the Greek god Apollo on the obverse became a simple laurel wreath, and a crude horse repre- sented the horse-drawn chariot on the reverse of the Macedonian stater. The Ancient British coinage ceased when the Roman armies occupied Yorkshire about 70 A.D.
Of the Ancient British coins found in the Huddersfield district
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Lund, who lived at York and was a member of the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society from 1830 to 1833. Lund probably based his information on the Annual Report of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for 1829, which stated that the coins were found
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LIGHTCLIFFE, near Halifax 1827 to 1829 (Approximate National Grid Reference S.E. 140253).
J. Horsfall Turner!® stated that this find was published by the Rev. W. H. Bull of Sowerby
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rudely formed horse and DVMNO-CO-VEROS on the reverse the fourth coin was a variety hitherto unpublished It will be seen that this coin differs from those that have already been published in having the VEP of the legend retrograde and in the very peculiar formation of the tail of the horsef.
dates the find 1827 and both Petch and Richmond illustrate an Ancient British gold stater “from
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illustrate their remarks with a photographic block + showing nine gold staters
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of the fate of the hoard.
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2. British Museum Collection, purchased in the John Sheppard Sale, 1837 and recorded in the Sale Catalogue as having been found near York. Attributed to the Almondbury Hoard by Petch, Richmond and Woodhead. If this attribution is accepted it should now be attributed to the Lightcliffe Hoard.
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ROMAN COINS
The Roman Coinage was gradually introduced into Britain by traders during the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., and in Yorkshire it replaced the “Brigantian’’ or
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10
11
12
13
MARCIA
Obv. Rev.
CLOULIA
Obv. Rev.
VALERIA
Obv. Rev.
Obv. Rev.
APPULEIA
Obv. Rev.
MINUCIA
Obv. Rev.
CREPUSIA
Obv. Rev.
MARIA
Obv. Rev.
PROCILIA
Obv. Rev.
IULIA
Obv. Rev.
BRUTUS
Obv. Rev.
M. Marcius M. f. (119-110 B.C.) Head of Roma, helmeted, right. x below chin. Victory in biga, right. M(M)AR (C)/ROMA divided by ears of corn.
T. Cloulius (101-91 B.C.) Head of Roma, right, wreath behind. Victory driving biga, ear of corn below horses. In exergue (T) CLOVL (I)
L. Valerius Flaccus. (106-100 B.C.) Bust of Victory, right. Mars, left, carrying trophy. L VALER(I) FLACC(I)
Bust of Victory, right. x below chin. Mars, left, carrying trophy. L VALERI FLACCI
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus (101-92 B.C.) Head of Roma, helmeted, left. Saturn in quadriga, right. M below horses. In exergue L SATVRN
Q. Thermius M. f. (100-91 B.C.) Head of Mars, left. Two warriors fighting, the one on the left protecting
fallen comrade. In exergue (Q TH)ERM (MF)
Pub. Crepusius (82-80 B.C.) Head of Apollo, right. Galloping horseman, right. In exergue P CR(EPVSI)
C. Marius C. f. Capit (82-79 B.C.) Bust of Ceres, right. CAPIT CXXII Man ploughing with yoked oxen, above In MARICF/SC
L. Procilius f. (78-77 B.C.) Head of Juno Sospita, right. S C behind. Juno Sospita in biga, right, serpent below horses. In exergue (L PROCILI F)
C. Julius Caesar (c. 50 B.C.) Diademed head of Venus, left. Hispania and Gaulish captive seated beneath trophy. In exergue CAESAR
Q. C. Brutus (c. 43 B.C.) Laureate head of Apollo, right. COSTA LEG Military trophy. BRVTVS IMP
IMPERIAL SILVER AND BRASS
Obv. Rev.
(54-68 A.D.) AR Denarius I Laureate
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AE Dupondius 14 Obv. Radiate head, right. NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GEK PALTR kev. Victory, left holding wreath and palm. VICTORIA
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LIGHTCLIFFE HOARD, 1827-1829 (Approximate National Grid Reference S.E. 140253).
See page 7 and Richmond, page 114. Several Roman coins were found in a fictile vase at Lightcliffe in 1827 together with the Ancient British coins already described. The present location of these coins is unknown, but a number of them were listed by the Rev. W. H. Bull and sub- sequently by Leyland, Horsfall Turner, and in the Numismatic
Chronicle. ACILIA Man. Acilius Glabrio (58-55 B.C.) 1 Obv. Laureate head of Health, right. SALVTIS behind. Rev.
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PLATE I
3 1
Plate I Ancient British gold staters in the British and Yorkshire Museums, believed to have been found at Lightcliffe (electrotypes). (Actual size). Description on page 10.
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PLATE II
19 Casual Find (see Page 27)
Plate II
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13
14
15
16
17
18
20
21
22
25
26
27
CORNELIA
Obv.
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29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
PROCILIA
Obv.
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Victorinus, Tetricus, Claudius Gothicus, Tacitus, Probus, Carinus, Carausius, Constantine, Constantius and Licinus. This is the only authority for associating coins later than Carausius with the hoard and their attribution to it isextremely doubtful. In 1861, H. J. More- house published some particulars of the coins from this hoard in his possession?*. He added Salonina to Walker’s list, but made no mention of Carinus, Licinus, Constantius or Constantine. More- house died on October 9th, 1890 and bequeathed his collection of antiquities to the Huddersfield Museum unless a museum was founded at Holmfirth within thirty years of his death, during which time the collection was to be held in trust. After passing through the possession of the Holmfirth Technical Institute and the Holmfirth Urban District Council, the Morehouse Collection was eventually transferred to the Tolson Memorial Museum, Hudders- field, in 1947. I. A. Richmond made a study of the coins in 1923, and referred to the hoard briefly in his
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10 ll
12
13 14
15
16 17 18 19
20
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29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
TETRICUS I
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48
49
50
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
PROBUS
Obv. Rev.
Obv. Rev.
CARAUSIUS
Obv. Rev.
Obv. Rev.
Obv. Rev.
Obv.
Rev
Obv. Rev.
Obv.
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62 Obv.
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TETRICUS II (270-273 A.D.) 12 Obv. Head. (C PIV
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LUCIUS VERUS (161-169 A.D.) AR Denarius (Chadderton No. 17) Obv. Laureate head, right. L VERVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX ‘Rev. -
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HEPWORTH, MEAL HILL, 1840 (National Grid Reference S.E. 168070).
About 1840 a coin believed to be a denarius of Caracalla (211-217 A D.) was found near Meal Hill, Hepworth?°.
HOLMFIRTH, 1830
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LINTHWAITE, COLNE VALLEY
Mr. K. Wood of Dalton brought two coins to the Museum for identification in October, 1959 and reported that they had been found at Linthwaite.
DOMITIAN (81-96 A.D.) AR Denarius 89-90 (A.D.) Obv. Laureate head, right. CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P
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The Roman fort at Slack was founded by Agricola in 79-80 A.D. to guard the York and Chester Road and is believed to have been abandoned about 141 A.D. Excavations were conducted in 1865-66 and again in 1913-15.
During the 1865-66 excavations seventeen coins were found, two of which were silver
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TRAJAN (98-117 A.D.) 10 AE 1 Obv. Laureate head, right. IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM VPP Rev. Female, leit. 5 PQ R
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it was not until the thirteenth century that the range of denom- inations was increased. The Renaissance of 1500 saw the return of classical design and by the end of the seventeenth century all the British coinage was being produced by machinery.
NETHERTON HOARD, 1892 (National Grid Reference
S.E. 030124).
This hoard was found at Spring Wood, Netherton, in 1892, and presented to the Museum in 1923 by J. H. Hinchcliffe. The hoard contained 75 English, 1 Scottish and 4 Irish silver coins :—-
Mary
Elizabeth I
James 1
Charles I
ENGLAND (1553-1558) 1 AR Groat Undated.
(1558-1603) 3 AR Pennies i.m. coronet (1567-70); key (1595-8) ; uncertain mark. 8 AR Half-groats i.m. lis (1558-61), 1; eglantine (1573-7), 1; key (1595-8), 1;
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SCOTLAND
James VI (1567-1625) 1 AR Half thistle merk Uncertain date, 1601-3.
IRELAND
James I (1603-25) 1 AR Sixpence First issue: i.m. martlet 1603. 3 AR Shillings First issue: i.m. bell (1603), 3.
ELLAND HOARD, 193235
A hoard of 1,187 silver coins was found on November 7th, 1932 in a red earthenware jar in the garden of a newly erected house in Elizabeth Street, Elland, the property of Mrs. Maria Thornton. The pot was found 18 inches below the surface of the ground and about two feet from the entrance gate. The coins were declared to be treasure trove and two of each denomination, the half-crown of James I and the Scottish shillings were secured by Elland Museum, together with the jar in which they were found; unfortunately they were stolen during the 1939-45 war and never recovered.
The date of the coins suggests that the hoard was deposited about the beginning of the Civil War as the latest coins, 72 shillings and four sixpences of Charles I bear the initial mark ‘‘triangle in circle”’ (1641-3). All the coins, which were published by G. C. Brooke in the Numismatic
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James I
Charles I
115 AR Shillings
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140 AR Half-crowns i.m. lis (1625), 1; harp (1632-3), 3; portcullis (1633-4), 6; bell (1634-5), 6; crown (1635-6), 7; crown with plume over shield (1635-6), 1; tun (1636-8), 8; anchor (1638-9), 11; triangle (1639-40), 17; star (1640-1), 21; triangle in circle (1641-3), 53; uncertain marks, 6.
ALMONDBURY (National Grid Reference S.E. 152141).
A silver Short-Cross half-penny, Brooke class 5b, of John (1199-1216) was found during excavations at Castle Hill in 1948 and presented to the Museum.
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I Penny Class Vb 1251-72 Canterbury or London Mint. Obv. (H)ENRICVS REX (IIT)
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REFERENCES L. ALLEN, D. F. 1960. Brigantes or Coritani? Tvansactions of the Yorkshive Numismatic Society, Series 2, Vol. 1, Part V, pp. 10-19. 2. AKERMAN, J. Y. 1839. Further Observations on the Coinage of the Ancient Britons. Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. 1, pp. 73-90. 3. EVANS, Sir JOHN. 1864. The Coins of the Ancient Britons. London:
p. 406. 4, RICHMOND, I. A. 1925. Huddersfield in Roman Times. Huddersfield: pp. 14, 15, 114.
5. PETCH, J. A. 1924. Early Man in the District of Huddersfield. Huddersfield: pp. 78, 79. 6. POSTE, BEALE. 1851. On the Coins of Cunobeline and of the Ancient
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INDEX OF FIND SPOTS
Area: County Borough of Huddersfield, Borough of Brighouse, Urban Districts of Colne Valley, Denby Dale, Elland, Holmfrth, Kirkburton, Meltham and Saddleworth.
page ALMONDBURY, Hoard, Ancient British and Roman (1st century A.D.)
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PUBLICATIONS OF
THE TOLSON MEMORIAL MUSEUM, HUDDERSFIELD
2
10
12
13
14
15
16
Angles, Danes and Norse in the District of Huddersfield by W. G. Collingwood, M.A., F.S.A. (Second Edition) Price 2/-
Early Man in the District of Huddersfield by J. A. Petch,