Cache of antique coins found in drawer at Scotney Castle

[Xenophon]

Cache of antique coins found in drawer at Scotney Castle

Rare coins, mostly Roman, are believed to have been collected by the Kent castle’s owner, Edward Hussey, and his son:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/nov/03/cache-of-antique-coins-found-in-drawer-at-scotney-castle

[n.igma]

Interesting that a 19th century fake in the collection helped to pin down the likely collector among the generations of occupants....

The coins are the most exciting discovery so far. Most of the 186 coins are Roman, probably collected by the Victorian owner of Scotney Castle, Edward Hussey, and his son Edwy. But they range from a silver coin showing a sea turtle, made in the seventh century BC for the tiny Greek island of Aegina, to an 18th-century Welsh token, and just one forgery, a 19th-century fake of a rare coin for the Roman emperor Otho, who reigned for just three months until he killed himself in AD 69. The fake helped identify the probable collector: in 1823 Edward’s teenage diaries carefully recorded spending between four and seven shillings on coins.

[Frank D3]

Cache of antique coins found in drawer at Scotney Castle
The Guardian - 2 November 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/nov/03/cache-of-antique-coins-found-in-drawer-at-scotney-castle

Many of us may have seen this news item on recent find of collection of ancient coins in back of a dusty drawer in an English Castle, but many accounts leave out the interesting fact included by The Guardian as follows.

“Most of the 186 coins are Roman, probably collected by the Victorian owner of Scotney Castle, Edward Hussey, and his son Edwy. But they range from a silver coin showing a sea turtle, made in the seventh century BC for the tiny Greek island of Aegina, to an 18th-century Welsh token, and just one forgery, a 19th-century fake of a rare coin for the Roman emperor Otho, who reigned for just three months until he killed himself in AD 69.”

Too bad there is not a good photo of the Ortho.

Keep Calm and Carry On but Beware of Fakes.


Daily Mail article has more photos and info overall than Guardian.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5054797/Hoard-ancient-coins-drawer-Scotney-Castle.html

[Bill W4]

Guess I'm not the only one to have an Ortho reproduction to fill the empty space.

[*Alex]

As a matter of interest there is an Otho coin here, it looks like a denarius, but I don't know whether its the fake or not. The denomination of the Otho fake wasn't mentioned in the article.

Alex

[Frank D3]

Thanks Alex. I looked and played "Where's Otho?" but just wasn't familiar enough with his image even after looking at photos of statues and coins.

[peterpil19]

My only complaint about this article: how did the fake identify the probable collector? In answering this, the article tells a story of a collector, his son and a trip to the British Museum, but nothing about a fake? Was it the price he paid? I have no idea how far a few shillings got someone back in those days.

Peter

[antoninus1]

This might give an idea how much a shilling was worth:

http://www.victorianweb.org/economics/wages2.html

[curtislclay]

A crucial detail seems missing: do the diary entries specifically mention the Otho fake in question?