Celtic Gold

Pick of the week for April 15th is a full Celtic gold stater of Addedomaros, King of the Trinovantes tribe, circa 45BC. The saying is “treasure is where you find it”, suggesting you never know where you might find the good stuff. However, sometimes you know it’s there and you just have to step in the right spot. That was the case with this beautiful piece of ancient gold I found in England recently. The area we were hunting was a known hoard area meaning there had been multiple Celtic gold coins recovered in the past but the field had not produced a hoard coin in several years. This spring it was freshly deep plowed and was being rolled flat (English farmers do this to their fields and it greatly enhances detecting conditions) so we took a chance on there still being one or two in the ground. After a couple of hours and very few targets I was thinking of heading over to another field but decided to make a small grid in the area where the hoard was allegedly found. I got a shallow target and thought it was probably aluminum and as I kicked away the loose dirt the small but beefy gold stater rolled across my boot! This was my 1st Celtic gold coin and although it was reported to the British museum as an addendum hoard coin, chances are it will be disclaimed and I’ll get to keep it. It’s a fine strike with a clear Celtic horse and weighs a hefty 5.55g. It’s hard to describe the feeling of digging a gold coin that was minted during the time of Julius Caesar but suffice to say it’s a rush…sometimes treasure is elusive but sometimes it’s right where it’s supposed to be.
Find out more about the Trinovantes tribe here: http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/trinovantes.htm

Happy Hunting