Finding a Jetton Hoard

It must be every detectorist's dream to find a hoard, this is how Stuart found his.

Back in November 2005 the club held a rally down in Market Lavington in deepest Wiltshire. This was the day that went down in rally history as the wettest and windiest rally ever held that really was some achievement.

Anyway, the club members that helped out at our rally or our display day got an extra day’s detecting, at a site that we probably will not be allowed on again. This is just a thank you for the helpers, and it was at one of these that Stuart struck lucky.

We had permission to use this particular field just once, and as it was well away from the main rally fields it was kept as a bonus just for this purpose. It bordered the Manor church and it was apparently where the old Manor house once stood. It was an all grass field, on a slope, and had plenty of humps and bumps in it, and it actually looked very promising.

During the morning, plenty of normal finds came up, buttons and a few buckles and all the bits and pieces we normally find, but nothing of any real age. Then Stuart who was detecting near the foot of the slope, found a Jetton. He had just started to move away when he found another, and another, then a couple together.

By this time one of the other members Nigel had found a single stray, which was a bit away from the main batch. As Stuart seemed to have found most of them, it was decided that we should help to cut back the turf a little, to let him detect easier and also a bit deeper.

This was not as easy as it sounds; the soil was littered with stones. These must have come from a fallen wall, as the foundations could be seen clearly, as we opened up the hole. Detecting carefully he covered the whole area as we lifted the turf. Doing this a few more were found bringing the total Jettons to 36.

He was over the moon with his hoard really pleased, and could not wait to tell the landowner. We all had a normal days detecting but Stuart’s finds beat us all.

The first photo shows the coins as they came straight out of the ground. The difference between this photo and when the Jettons had been cleaned is fantastic.

The second one is the complete 36 cleaned and restored, and then recorded by our Wiltshire F L O, Katie Hinds.

Here is Katie’s write up about them, and the description of the first four Jettons.

A Late Fourteenth Century 'Hoard' of English and French Jettons from Little Cheverell, Wiltshire.

The 'hoard' consists of seven English and twenty four French / Tournai copper alloy jettons, two billon coins, one of Spain the other of Brittany, and three blank discs.

This group of thirty six pieces (plus one other at present separated from the main group) dates from the second half of the 14th century. The loss of these pieces most probably took place within a few years on either side of 1400. The presence of three blank discs suggests that this group may well be part or whole of a working set of counters. The varying patina on some of the pieces suggests that these had been overlapping in the soil after loss.

Many of the pieces show varying degrees of wear and edge damage. The French pieces in general are in better condition than those of English origin. Numbers 11,16 and 19-29 are quite well preserved, 19 , 22 and 24 particularly so. The cutting of the dies for the Moor's head jettons 13, 14 and 15 is very crude.

The find-spot is apparently not far south-west of the church. In the medieval period Little Cheverell was included within the lands of the Bishop of Salisbury.

England Jettons of Edward II period (1307-27)

1. Shield bendy 

D 21mm., th l.lmm., wt 2.20g.^die axis uncertain, partly pierced from centre of Reverse, edge slightly chipped Obv: Shield of three reversed bends, border of strokes Rev: Triple-stranded cross fleury with a lis in each quarter, Ref: M cf. 295; Berry type 17, pi. 5, 7 (obv.)

2  Fleur de lis inverted

D 19mm., th 0.6mm., wt l.OOg., die axis uncertain, punch mark in centre of revers Obv: Shield bearing a fleur-de-lis inverted, border of pellets

Rev: Triple-stranded cross fleury with a lis in each quarter Ref: M cf. 269; Berry type 17D, pi. 5, 10 (obv.); B pi. II, 36 (rev.)

3.    Arms of Clare

D 23mm., th 0.6mm., wt 0.82g., die axis uncertain, central perforation from reverse, corroded and incomplete Obv: Shield chevronny T]ELCVS Rev: Double-stranded rectangle with diagonals, ?triple triangles in quarters Border: pseudo legend Ref: No parallel found for obv, for rev. see Berry pi. 5, 13, rev type 18 and M 262  (obv)

Jettons of Edward III / Richard II period (1327-99)

4.   Lion rampant

D 28mm., th 1.4mm., wt 5.36g., die axis uncertain, partly pierced from centre of reverse, lighter mark in obverse centre Obv: Lion rampant within a tressure of nine arcs, trefoils at cusps Border: Crosses and paired leaves.

Well I have a few Jettons that I have found over the years, and that probably goes for all of us, but I have never seen a hoard as good as these. So well done Stuart, maybe it will be our turn next.

Dave