The discovery of a treasure of coins from the construction site of a nuclear power plant in England

Excavating in England, archaeologists discovered a treasure of 321 silver coins at the construction site of a nuclear power plant. These coins were found wrapped in cloth; Therefore, it can be hypothesized that their owner may have buried the coins to prevent them from being confiscated.

“Live Science” wrote that these coins, some of which were produced in small and rural mints and are very rare, belong to the years 1036 to 1044 AD. This means that the coinage coincided with the beginning of the reign of the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, a turbulent period in English history in which the king exiled several members of the elite and confiscated their property.

“Alexander Bliss”, a coin expert stated:

The value of this 11th century coin hoard was 320 pence, which was a considerable amount for most people at the time and was enough to buy about 16 cows.

Bliss told Live Science in an email:

Perhaps the owner of this treasure was worried about the new regime or the political situation and social instability and took measures to hide his wealth. Three hoards from this period (1042 to 1044) have now been discovered across England, furthering the hypothesis that the early years of Edward’s reign were not peaceful.

The owner of the warehouse was probably an average person, not an elite. It is unclear why the owner of the coins never returned for the coins; But he may have died before he could retrieve it or tell anyone about it.