The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-16 00:00:00

Extraordinary Find of English Silver Coins

at Eccles.

During the last few days there have been, under some-
what singular circumstances, a succession of finds, at the
same spot in Eccles, of a very large number of silcer pennies,
chiefly of the reign of Henry 111. The extent of the deposit
may be gathered from the fact that the total quantity
of these coins found numbers about 6,400 pieces, having an
aggregate weight of about 21 pounds avoirdupois. A new
junction road is being made from Wellington-road, Eccles,
past the boundary wall on the west side of the ancient resi-
dence known as Monk's Hall, where it is probable the
Monks of Whalley Abbey, who were formerly the lords of
the greater part of Eccles, Menton, and Swinton, had
a Grange or farm residence, with tithe barns, &c. and
where they collected rents and tithes from their tenants and
other inhabitants of the neighbourhood. OLe Saturday
week a young man named James Britch [? Bridge], a card •
room band at the Moorside Mills of Messrs John Gibb and
Sons (who had two fingers taken off by incautiously putting
his hand too near the beater in the blowing-room), was
walking along this footpath, when Lis eye caught some-
thing glittering on the ground, He picked it up and found
it to be a small silver coin, and a little further search was I
rewarded by finding about a score of similar coins. Still
he did not pick up all that he saw, and did not believe
the coins to be worth much ; for he gave several to his
companions and acquaintances. He showed some to Mr
J. Allan Gibb, one of his employers, who told him to take
them for inspection to a gentleman in the neighbourhood,
a Fellow of the Society of 4ntiquaries, who would be able
to tell him their nature and probable value. This gentle-
man gave Britch a few shillings for 15 coins, and learning
that he had left some lying on the spot, urged him to go
again and bring away all he could find. This was on the
morning of Wednesday in last week; but strange to say,
Britch did not go to the spot till Thursday evening, and
then his trouble was largely rewarded by finding that not
only were some coins scattered about the footpath, but
that in one spot there was a large collection,
which, on his beginning to remove it, he found to be
contained in a coarse earthenware pot or pipkin. This
he emptied, and took his treasure for safety to the
neighbouring residence of Mr Allan Gibb. About five
o'clock on Friday morning Britch again visited the
earth, covering it up with soil. The same morning he again
called on the antiquary and told him what he had done, and
place, and found 179 more coma ; bat he left the pot in the
the gentleman at once accompanied him to the place, and
with the aid of a small garden tool, the pot (which was
mouth uppermost and close to the surface) was carefully ex-
humed ; but was so fragile and friable that it crumbled
even under tender handling, and broke, and only the lower
part could be got away. Even at their fourth visit 20 more
coins were found on the surface of the footpath. The pot
and coins were removed to the residence of the local Monk-
barns ; where the latter were washed, a thousand of them
counted, weighed in a kitchen balance, and found to be
about 341 b avoirdupois. The rest were then weighed in
batches of 31 lb., and in this way it was found that there
were probably about 6,400 of these silver pennies, weighing
altogether about 211 b.

The 1,000 counted coins were then cursorily examined,
and it was found that 964 of them were of Henry 111. and
though of different types, yet all struck before the 32d year
of his reign, 1247-48, when. in order to stop clipping, the
cross on the reverse, which till then had been confined
within the legend border, was carried through that border
to the edge of the coin. in the new mintage of that year. All
the coins examined have the short cross. The remaining
portions of the thousand coins included nineteen of the
reign of John, and seventeen of other and various types,
but all probably earlier than the reign of Henry 111. Of
the 964 coins of Henry, there were many varieties of type.
This King had mints in various parts of the kingdom, and
different mint-masters, or, as they were called, moneyers,
and it was then the custom for the reverse of a coin to bear

the names of the moneyer and of the city or town where it
was minted. Of the coins of Henry 111. in this find, most
seem to have been struck at London and Canterbury, but
there are some also of the mints at Winchester,
Taunton, Northampton, Chichester, Bury St. Ed-
munds, Lincoln, and Durham. Amongst the moneyers'
names are Abel, Adam, Aimer, Alisandre, Andre, Arnaud,
Bartelme, Beneit, Elis, Fulke, Fulre, Henri, Hiun, Hunter,
Ilger, Joan, Chichester, Johan, Jun, Meinir, Miles, Nicole,
Norman, Pierres, Rauf, Reinard, Ricard, Roberd, Rodbert,
Roger, Saleman, Samuel, Simun, Walter, and Willelm.
The obverse of most of these pennies of Henry 111. is the
same, the King represented full face, with crown and cross
of pearls, and the sceptre in the right hand, surmounted
by a similar cross. Legend, " lieuricus Rex," but with-
out the " Terc." or "III." of later coinage. Ruding
observes that the alteration of type introduced upon the
money of this reign forms a kind of era in the numismatic
history of England. The portraits of previous monarchs
were usually represented either in full or profile ; and the
crosses were exhibited under almost every possible
form. But tha portrait of Henry 111. is invariably full
f aced ; and the cross (always of double lines) on his earlier
coinage is bounded by the inner circle and has four pellets
in each quarter; while the later coinage of 1247 had only
three pellets in each quarter. As no penny has been found
in the Eccles hoard of the later type, and none of any later
reign, it affords a fair presumption that this treasure was
hidden in the ground between about A.D. 1220 and 1247.
As to the coins of King Johi, it may be mentioned that
although there are proofs of a coinage in his reign at mints
in England, no genuine coin of any of these has been
found ; and the only silver pennies of this king were
all coined in Ireland. The chief feature of these coins both
on Obv. and Rev. is a large triangle, enclosing (on Obv.)
the King's head, full face, with a sceptre in right hand,
and the legend in three pnrts cn the sides of the triangle,
" Joha-ones Rex." The reverse on all the Eccles coins of
John, has within the triangle a crescent, a blazing star,
and a small star in each atigle. Legend, Roberd on Dive"
(Dublin).
The third glass of coins eipear to be of ruder type
and earlier period. The obverse has the face in profile
usually to the left, the legend so rudely executed as to
be almost illegible. Norte of these is opresented in any
of the numerous plates in i.Ruding's Annals of the
Coinage," and it is a mere guess to say they may prove to
be pennies of William Rufus.
The pot or vase is urn-shaped, of coarse reddish earthen-
ware, and slightly ribbed insids; the only external orna-
ment being a border of small squire indents. It was very
tightly pecked in the hard dry earth which surrounded it,
and to the dry soil is owing
the cxcellent preservation of
the majority of the coins. They real to be tolerably free
from alloy, as only two of the whys could be found show-
ing any green cxydati,'n or patina.
Our readers may remember that in consequence of a
very large find of gold ornaments !o the south of England,
which were sold and melted to peeeent detection, an act was
passed authorising the Crown officers to purchase, at the
market value of the metal by weight, any treasure in gold
or silver ornaments or coins, so as to reward the finder, bud
to preserve articles of antiquarianvalue from destruction.
The local antiquary near Eccles wrote on Fridey to the
Crown authorities, describing the circumstances of the find,
andthe character,
be able to report the first case of an)
extent under the new act, and its practical result.
in a few days
we weight, and nu/oer of the coins ; so That
aym

s.—Rreat excitement pre-
ESCAPE OF TWO LION
vailed in the neighbourhood of Above Bar-street,
Southampton, on Saturday night, in consequence of two
lions having escaped from le,
ire embwell'a menagerie. The
exhibition is located in the Westmoreland Park, at the
a 13g
portion of the ground used for
h
back of the High-street,
o
i Saturday evening, a
largeriteiodrill
n , number
and a great crowd of
persons had also assembled
outside. It appears from the statement of those who were
the
of
the
o if
i iI a
spectators c ° r
frlii
than usual attended the exhi-
bition,
present, that. about 9 o'clock, the keeper announced his in-
tention to enter the dens, for th
performances ; and for this
et
he purpose
carriage of puttingoccupied
pied the b
),
pt
animalsauvropo lions,Be't hb:he° through
gfivhriss titthoperrisor" aseue usual
dal
usual t - oor; such occasions rushing
aopfptahree n tl
to that part of the exhibition. The keeper, after ad-
dressing a few words to his audience, opened the iron-barred
Y With the usual caution ob-
dseorovreodf
at the
c ge
kind, When suddenly one of the
lions leaped upon the keeper's back,
followed by the other,
and both animals sprung out of their den and amongst those n
assembled round the carriage. One of, the beasts continued
leaping about amongst the visitors, many of whom having
been knocked down were sprawlin
exhibitions arria'
-g on the ground, and those
wit," were more fortunate were flying about in a State of
ed for a short time the greatest .
nt_.
terror, a.. , excitement ,re
-
terror, was soon 8
veiled. The an im-- sec by the keepers, who
then
went in
searLh of the other lion, which, instead o
amusing itself inside 1,218 e hibition, boudded up the eteps
and sprang from the platn.'rm., a. naong the people assembled
outside, who immediately flea, In all directions. The lion
ran across the park towards the Savings bank, and one of
the houses in the terrace having its door open, walked
into the patient) and thence into the /odour, where some
ladies were sitting, who fled through the i'selding doors into
the adjoining room and thence upstairs. The ,keepers arriv-
ing, the lion was soon secured and caged. Seee;al persons
were knocked down, trampled upon, and their clothe's torn,
but fortunately none sustained personal injury.
THE MISSION TO RICHMOND.—Mr. Horace
Greeley states in an article in the Independent that
Colonel Jaques and Mr Gilmore, the latter more widely
known as Edmund Kirke, author of ', Among the Pines,"
wont to Richmond with the full knowledge of the Presi-
dent, intent on devising or discovering some ground of ac-
commodation
or adjustment between the belligerents now
devastating the Republic, and appear to have been treated
with signal courtesy, and even generous hospitality. Mr
Gilmore gives the net product of the unofficial mission in
this piquant passage:—" Jefferson Davis said to me last
Sunday, and, with all his faults, I believe him a man of
truth, ' This war must go on till the last of this generation
falls in his tracks. and his children seize his musket and fight
our battles, unless you acknowledge our right of self-go-
vernment. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fight-
ing for independence; and that, or extermination, we will
have,'"