It is the first Iron Age coin hoard that has been found in Cornwall since 1749.

The staters date from 80BC to AD43 and were minted by Iron Age tribes outside Devon and Cornwall (the local Dumnonii did not mint their own coins), including some on the Continent. These coins feature the names of rulers, as well as symbols and motifs such as horses, chariots, trees and wheat.

The earliest Roman coins in the hoard date from the Republican period around 119BC, with the latest one dating from the Imperial reign of Galba in AD68-69.

Hoards of mixed coins dating from after the Roman conquest of Britain in AD43 have previously been found in all Leicestershire and Dorset. The mix of the St Levan hoard suggests that these coins travelled westwards as a result of Roman military activity in the first century AD. They now enter the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro as important evidence of the economic and political connections between Cornwall and other regions during the Late Iron Age period.

Provenance

The hoard has been identified as genuine and has been valued by experts in the Treasure Valuation Committee after being declared Treasure by the Coroner for Cornwall.