Ten Medieval coins from the Box Hoard

The Box hoard was one of the most interesting and historically important medieval coin hoards to have been found in recent years. The greater part of the hoard was retained for the British Museum. This representative sample is composed of coin struck in the West Country. The hoard comprises coins of the two principal figures, Stephen and Matilda (using her title of Empress), together with baronial issues struck by Matilda's supporters. A number of coins with illiterate inscriptions are also present. Two of the Stephen pennies are from an obliterated obverse die, suggesting that they were struck without the king's authority. Many of the coins were completely unknown before the hoard's discovery, others are extremely rare. Some are from mints - Cirencester, Trowbridge and Marlborough - which were not previously known to have struck coins at this time. The hoard also includes the first known medieval coins to have been struck at Trowbridge.