NOONANS: SPRINGHEAD HOARD, PART ONE

Lot 552 - Gratian

Noonans are to sell the first part of the Springhead Hoard of Late Roman Coins in an auction on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 3pm. Discovered by members of the Gravesend Historical Society more than 60 years ago when the A2 in Kent was being widened. The Springhead Hoard will be offered in several parts. Part I, which consists of 114 Siliquae, including many attractive and well-preserved pieces is estimated to fetch up to £15,000 with the proceeds going to support the society which is still in existence today and has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. The remaining coins will follow in Spring 2027.

As Richard Taylor, Honorary Secretary of the Gravesend Historical Society explains in the foreword of the catalogue: "The Gravesend Historical Society was founded in 1924. Early talks ranged from butterflies to bees, but by 1950 the Society had found its true calling: the Roman site at Springhead, known to the Romans as Vagniacis. Led by Bill Penn, members dug there Sunday after Sunday, summer and winter. They uncovered the temples, shops and roads of one of Roman Britain's most important religious centres, where travellers on Watling Street probably stopped to pray for healing and good fortune."

He continues: "Then, on 22 October 1964, came the find of a lifetime. Workmen widening the A2 turned up a hoard of late Roman gold and silver coins, struck under emperors from Constantius II to Magnus Maximus. Someone hid them around the AD 380s, a troubled time of raids and rebellion, and never came back. Word got around, so the timely recovery of the coins was essential. That 447 were recovered was, in the words of the excavation report, "largely as a result of strenuous efforts by members of the Gravesend Historical Society."

He finishes: "Sixty years on, it is time for the coins to circulate once more. Victor and Alan, the only members still with us who helped recover them, remain active in the Society. Having watched the coins come out of the ground, they will now see them set off on the next stage of a very long journey. The proceeds will go towards the storage, conservation and digitisation of the Society's extensive local research archive. That archive holds documents, photographs, excavation records and Springhead artefacts, including a few coins from the hoard that are staying at home in Gravesend. So, whoever takes one of these coins home will also be helping to keep Gravesend's past safe for the next generation."

Lot 590 - Valentinian II

Victor Smith remembers it well: "I have memories of members of the Gravesend Historical Society on their knees searching for the coins, working their way along individual parallel search lines, divided from each other by strings. They did so as giant earth movers roared by outside the fenced off area. I was in the last line, finding only two coins."

Victor's school friend and fellow digger, Alan Ridgers, had caught the Springhead bug a year earlier, when field walking with Victor turned up a bronze coin of Marcus Aurelius. "That was a life-changing moment," Alan recalls, "because it prompted me to ask so many questions. Who owned it? What did they do? Which language did they speak?"

At an inquest at Northfleet Town Hall in January 1965 the hoard was declared Treasure Trove. The British Museum took 27 coins, including the gold, while the Society bought the remaining 420 silver siliquae with its reward, topped up from its own museum fund.

As Bradley Hopper, Head of Coin Department at Noonans explains: "The Springhead Hoard is notable for its date of deposition, in or very shortly after AD 388. The coins span the second half of the 4th century, running from the final years of Constantius II to the aftermath of the death of Magnus Maximus on 28 August 388."

He adds: "From its burial in antiquity until its discovery in 1964, the hoard lay together as a single group. It was not dispersed and damaged by agricultural activity, as is so often the case with late Roman silver hoards. We might also highlight that the hoard was recovered before the widespread use of pesticides and other chemicals in commercial farming. As a result, the surfaces of the coins are remarkably fresh and clean, and many show traces of their original lustre. Collectors will find here a rare opportunity to acquire late Roman Siliquae in a state of preservation seldom encountered in British-found hoards."

In common with other British-found hoards of the period, the Siliquae are dominated by the output of Trier, a major Roman imperial mint established in Germany, with the coinages of Gratian, Valens and Magnus Maximus the most numerous.

Lot 594 - Magnus Maximus

Among the highlights of the sale is a Siliqua from the reign Magnus Maximus (383-388), that was minted in Trier between 383-8, with a draped bust is estimated at £150-£200 [lot 594}, while from the reign of Valentinian II (375-392), from the Aquileia mint in NorthEastern Italy between 378-83 carries an estimate of £100-£150 [lot 590].

Lot 572 - Gratian

Elsewhere, a siliqua from the reign of Gratian (367-383), that was minted in Trier between 367-78 which is decorated with a draped bust on one side and Roma seated on a throne. It is estimated at £100-£150 [lot 552]. While a similar coin with lustrous golden toning is also expected to fetch £100-£150 [lot 572].

For more information, or to bid, see:
https://www.noonans.co.uk/

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