Article
16 October 2024
A silver coin issued by the Emperor Trajan in AD 107 after he had recalled all the worn Republican coins from circulation will be sold at Noonans Mayfair in a sale of Ancient Coins and Antiquities on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Expected to fetch £5,000-6,000, it was discovered in November 2022 by Paul Capewell in a field in Little Grandsen in Cambridgeshire.
Paul, who is 59 years old and lives in Selston in Nottinghamshire, started detecting with his father over 40 years ago. He retired from the building trade after suffering a heart attack and is currently waiting for more surgery.
He commented: “I have been visiting the same field for more that 20 years and have discovered a few Roman and Medieval coins, but this is my most exciting find so far!”
He recalled: “Using my Equinox 800 metal detector, I only found a few shot gun cartridges, so I decided to return to my car parked at the side of the field. Just five metres away from the car, I got a signal and at a depth of 8 inches, I found a silver Roman coin. I did not realise just how rare the coin was until I showed photographs to a coin dealer, and it has now been recorded with the portable Antiquities Scheme.”
Nigel Mills, Coins and artefacts Specialist at Noonans explains: “The coin was issued by the Emperor Trajan in AD 107 after he had recalled all the worn Republican coins from circulation and only two examples of this specific type have been recorded for sale in the last 25 years. Some of the coins in circulation dated back over 300 years and they provided a historical record of the achievements of the Roman Empire. Trajan issued a limited number of coins which recalled some of the events from the past. This coin uses the same imagery as an issue by the moneyer Titus Carisius in 46 BC. Titus was an ally of Julius Caesar, and this design features a bust of Juno Moneta on the obverse, with pincers, hammer and dies for striking coins on the reverse. A coin showing how a coin is made!”
Paul will split the proceeds from the sale with the landowner and plans to spend his portion either on a new Minelab Manticore detector or towards his heart surgery.
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