A 2,000-year-old Roman hoard which includes a bust of emperor Marcus Aurelius has gone on display for the first time since being discovered in North Yorkshire by two metal detectorists. The incredible collection of “nationally important” artefacts are expected to fetch up to £90,000 when they go under the hammer next month. The bronze items were discovered last year by metal detectorists James Spark, 40, and Mark Didlick, 44, in a field in Ryedale. The Ryedale Ritual Bronzes include a perfectly preserved bust of Marcus Aurelius, who was played by Richard Harris in hit 2000 film Gladiator. As well as the bust, which would have been mounted as the head of a priest’s sceptre, the hoard contained an equestrian statuette of the God Mars, a horse head knife handle and a large bronze pendulum.
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Hidden treasures people found at home By Bennington Grant Robert Alexander/Getty Images
A centuries-old mystery may be solved soon, thanks to some old-time pirate booty recently unearthed by an amateur historian. Jim Bailey found the coins using a metal detector in Middletown, Rhode island.
For 400 years, historians have pondered the escape route of pirate Captain Henry Every after his capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai, a ship belonging to an Indian emperor carrying gold and silver from Mecca. The discovery of these coins hints that Every made a pitstop in America. Although Bailey originally believed the loot to be of Spanish or colonial Massachusetts origin, research revealed it was from 17th century Yemen.
A bust of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is among a collection of 2,000-year-old bronze artefacts dug up in Yorkshire – and set to sell for around £100,000.
The fantastically preserved 6 inch (13cm) bust of Aurelius, who ruled the Roman Empire from AD 161 to AD 180, depicts him with hair and beard flamboyantly curled.
As well as the bust of Aurelius, the collection includes a statuette of the god Mars on horseback and the handle of a knife shaped as part of a horse.
The items were discovered last year by metal detectorists James Spark and Mark Didlick in a field in Ryedale, North Yorkshire.
AFTER what has been a truly difficult winter for many, spring has finally returned and with it a delightful surprise for the team at Museums Worcestershire, when a local landowner and metal detectorist generously donated their buried treasure to the collection. That the hoard of three Roman coins can even be offered to the Museums, amid lockdown delays, is incredible in itself. It was discovered in Elmley Lovett back in 2019 and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, where it was judged officially to be ‘treasure’ under the Treasure Act of 1996. A simple ‘find’ becomes treasure when it comprises more than two coins of greater than 10 per cent precious metal content, from the same findspot and greater than 300 years old.