London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 09, 2025

Norfolk treasure newly declared as England’s biggest Anglo-Saxon coin hoard

Norfolk treasure newly declared as England’s biggest Anglo-Saxon coin hoard

Inquiry rates 131 gold coins unearthed in East Anglia field over nearly 30 years as one collection

More than 130 gold coins unearthed by metal detectorists from a field in west Norfolk over a period of almost 30 years have been declared the largest hoard of such items from the Anglo-Saxon period found in England.

The 131 coins, as well as four other gold objects dating to 1,400 years ago, were sporadically discovered between 1991 and 2020, but it was only on Wednesday that an inquiry deemed them to be part of the same hoard.

Most of the objects were found by a single anonymous detectorist who reported his finds to the relevant authorities. However, 10 of the coins were found by David Cockle, a serving police officer who was jailed for 16 months in 2017 for illegally trying to sell them. Two of the finds concealed by Cockle have since disappeared into the antiquities trade.

The coins are mostly Frankish tremisses and include nine gold solidi, a larger coin from the Byzantine empire worth three tremisses. The discovery of the other objects, including a gold bracteate (a type of stamped pendant) and a small gold bar, suggests the coins should be seen as bullion, valued by weight rather than face value.

Gold bracteate, gold bar and two further artefacts thought to be jewellery fragments, discovered in Norfolk, part of a hoard that Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire.


On Wednesday the coroner for Norfolk opened an inquest to determine whether the finds constituted treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act (1996), which would make it property of the crown. Typically, any two or more coins that contain more than 10% precious metal and are more than 300 years old are defined as treasure.

The crown will claim a find if an accredited museum wishes to acquire it for public benefit and is in a position to pay a reward equivalent to the full market value. In this instance, Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire the hoard with the support of the British Museum, where Treasure Act cases are always prepared.

Tim Pestell, the senior curator of archaeology at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, called it an “internationally significant find”. He said: “Study of the hoard and its find spot has the potential to unlock our understanding of early trade and exchange systems and the importance of west Norfolk to East Anglia’s ruling kings in the seventh century.”

The decades either side of 600AD were a golden age for Anglo-Saxon England. The largest find of gold metalwork from this period was the Staffordshire hoard in 2009, which contained more than 5.1kg of gold and 1.4kg of silver.

The previous largest coin hoard of this period was 101 coins in a purse, discovered at Crondall, Hampshire, in 1828.

Perhaps the most famous discovery was the burial ship at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, popularised by the Netflix movie The Dig. The Sutton Hoo hoard included a purse of 37 gold Frankish coins, three blank gold discs the same size as the coins, and two small gold ingots.

Gareth Williams, the curator of early medieval coins at the British Museum, said: “This is a hugely important find. It is close in date to the famous ship burial from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, and although it doesn’t contain as much gold as the whole of the Sutton Hoo burial, it contains many more coins.

“In fact it is the largest coin hoard of the period known to date. It must be seen alongside other recent finds from East Anglia and elsewhere, and will help to transform our understanding of the economy of early Anglo-Saxon England.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
×