What can happen when looking for an old hammer ...


On November 16, 1992 the largest hoard from Roman times was discovered in Great Britain!

The hoard was discovered in a field about 1.5 miles from the village of Hoxne in Suffolk, England.



After Peter Whatling ...




... the tenant of the field had lost a hammer, he asked his friend Eric Lawes ...



... a retired gardener and owner of a metal detector to help him find the tool.

Lawes found several silver and gold coins and everyday objects on November 16.




He and Whatling then informed the local authorities and the police about the finds without carrying out any further excavations. The next day (November 17th) several archaeologists arrived, who in the following days lifted the treasure out of the ground by excavating a block. The lost hammer was also found and is on display with the treasure in the British Museum.

The finds consist of silver and gold coins, which together make up about 3.5 kg of gold and 23.75 kg of silver. The treasure was originally in an oak chest that was about 60 × 45 × 30 cm in size.



Inside the chest, individual objects were placed in smaller wooden vessels made of yew or cherry wood, while others were embedded in woolen cloth or straw. Except for fragments, however, the organic materials were completely decomposed.

The objects found consisted of:
• Coins:
569 gold coins (solidi)
o 14,272 silver coins, including 60 miliarenses and 14,212 siliquae
o 24 bronze numbers

• Jewelery and utensils:
o 29 gold jewelry works
o 98 silver spoons and ladles
o a tigress made of silver, which was worked as a handle or handle for a vessel
o 4 silver bowls and a small bowl
o 1 silver cup
o 1 silver vase
o 4 pepper shakers
o individual objects for personal hygiene, e.g. B. Toothpicks
o 2 silver locks as remnants of vessels made of wood or leather

• Traces of various organic materials, including a small ivory pyxis.









And that's the hammer that the two actually had searched for ...

When I lose something I am almost guaranteed to find something I had given up on ages ago but rarely the object I was looking for......