Find Spot record MDO20302 - The Sherborne Hoard, Sherborne Old Castle, Castleton

The Sherborne Hoard consisted of 10 foreign gold coins (1 Spanish and 9 Portugese) and 124 English silver coins. They were found whilst excavating fill material above and between the barrel vaults that form the 1st floor of the ruined castle keep. The hoard was originally deposited in the 1530s and is now held at the British Museum.

' The Sherborne Hoard was discovered on the 2nd October 1970 at Sherborne Old Castle, Sherborne, whilst work was being carried out to remove a fill material above and between the crowns of the two barrel vaults forming the first floor of the ruined keep of the Old Castle, so that the true nature, and if possible the date of the masonry could be determined. Whilst removing the loose earth and small rubble immediately against the southernmost of the three responds which had be revealed, the coins were found by Mr Roger William Spencer and Mr Stanley Warfleet.' [1]

The hoard '…consisted of 132 coins. Ten of these were gold: 1 excelente of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and the remaining 9 were crusados of King John III of Portugal. The 124 silver coins consisted of 1 groat (= 4 pence), 1 penny, 121 halfpennies of Henry VIII's second coinage (plus 1 unidentifiable silver coin). Converting the foreign gold into English values of the time, they were worth 5 shillings and 6 pence halfpenny. The total value of the coins was equivalent to several hundred pounds in modern terms.
The hoard was deposited in the 1530s. At this time foreign gold coins were playing an unusually prominent role in the English currency. The seemingly odd look of this collection (mostly portugese gold and English halfpennies) can probably be explained by assuming that another gold coin was exchanged for silver by the owner of the hoard for a specific purpose. Because of the hoards unusual nature, it was aquired by the British Museum…' [2].

<1> The Coroner, 1970, Inquisition Document produced by the Coroner Re: Sherborne Hoard; Sherborne File, British Museum (Unpublished document). SDO10582.

<2> Doyle, M, 2006, A Life in Scirburn, 36 (Monograph). SDO10583.

Record last edited

Jun 20 2024 10:16AM