The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-08-14

"AAN AIoVNio ~, oAhOuhCbio " CuC
enormous number of 100000.
The news OF the discovery soon
spread, and many people visited the
scene, some to satisfy not unnatural
curiosity, others, no doubt, in the hope
of securinga few Oh the coins for them
selves. But as the spot on which the
coins were found was near to the an
cient castle of Tutbury G. piece Of
Crown property, belonging to the
Duchy of Lancaster), the find, accord
ing to the existing law, belonging to
the Crown as treasure trove. The
Chancellor of the Duchy issued pro-
clamation claiming all the coins found,
and prohibiting further search by I'M
authorized persons; and he also ap-
pointed proper officers to proceed with
the examination of the un,xplored
ground. At the same time, with a
view to the peace of the neighborhood,
and in kind consideration of the poor
workmen who had been occupying
themselves in digging up the treasure,
he directed that no proceedings should
be taken for the recovery of any mon
ey which had been found previous to
that time. The net result of the search
under the commission of the Duchy
was the discovery of about 800 coins
and one gold ring. From the very
large number of coins found, it has
been cOnjectured that the treasure may
have been the contents of the military
chest of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster,
lost in the rapid retreat of his forces,
which took place after his defeat by
the Kings troops at Burton, in 1922.
1t is known that he fed in this direc-
ton after the battle, and would be COM
PEELED to cross the river somewhere in
the vicinity in which the coins were
found, there being no bridge at the
time.
The Duchy of Lancaster seems to
have been remarkably fortunate with
regard to discoveries of treasure, for in
1916 another important find occurred
in Lancashire upon property belonging
to the Council, which in several res
poets resembles tnat which took place
at Tutbury. 1t appears that from con-
tempory accounts that some workmen
were employed at a place called Cuer-
dale, near Preston, carrying earth to
fill in a large cavity, which had been
followed out by the water, in the
banks of the River Ribble. While
digging for this purpose, short dis
tance from the banks of the river, they
came upon large mass OF silver, con-
sisting of ingots of various sizes, few
armlets, tolerably entire, several frag-
ments, and a few ornaments of some
other description, the weight OF the
whole being about 900 ounces, ex-
elusive of 5000 or 1000 coins of va
rious reigns. The treasure had origi-
nally been inclosed in leaden chest,
but this was so decomposed that only
small portion could be secured. This
mass of treasure was at once taken
possession of in the Queens name by
those in authority, and became the
property, and become the property of
Her Majesty. With great liberality,
the Queen placed it in the hands OF the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,
to be disposed of as he might deem most
advantageous to the Numismatic and
archaeological Sciences. The majority
of the coins were of the reigns OF
Ethelstan, Alfred, Eadweard, st. Ed
mund. and other Saxon kings though
large number were foreign, and many
were unknown. A complete series was
selected for the Nationl Collection, and
packets more or less numerous were
presented to various institutions at
home and abroad, for the hoard was
almost as interesting to several OF the
Continental countries as it was to
England. From the general appearance
of the whole mass, it has been suggest
ed that it was the stock ofa dealer in
precious metals who, becoming alarm
ed during some civil commotion for the
safety of his stock in trade had buried
it for security until the danger should
be passed, and had afterwards been pre-
vented by some calamity from reveal
ing it's whereabouts to another or re-
covering it for himself.