The Latest Roman Coin from Hadrian's Wall: a Small Fifth-century Purse Group

Abstract

Eight Roman coins were reported in 2007 to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. All the coins were late Roman issues, with the latest identified as a Gloria Romanorum type dating to A.D. 406–408. This coin is only the second of its type to be identified in Britain, and it was found outside the normal area of fifth-century coins in southern Britain, in the Hadrian's Wall corridor. The finding of the group with its late coin begs the question of how many more fifth-century Roman issues may be as yet undiscovered or misidentified in Britain.

Finding the Fifth Century: A Late Fourth- and Early Fifth-Century Pottery Fabric from South-East Dorset

“… 80 Fifth-century coins remain, despite recent discoveries (Moorhead 2006; Collins 2008), extremely rare. Early Anglo-Saxon material culture is also rare, and especially so in Dorset, although the finds from near Hod Hill offer a glimmer of hope (Eagles and Mortimer 1993).…”