Finding Hoards

In literature, folklore, and popular culture, coins have a powerful association with buried treasure. That association often includes, of course, a colorful array of dragons, elves, leprechauns, and pirates. This chapter examines coin hoards as they appear in the works of Aristophanes, Plautus, Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot, J.R.R. Tolkien, and others. Among historical hoards are those reported by Cicero, Samuel Pepys, and a curious testimonial involving a witch in a medieval manuscript from 1366. Modern discoveries of ancient and medieval coin hoards number in the tens of thousands; this chapter examines some notable examples from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Britain, and Afghanistan.