Buried Treasures: Uncovering Hoards

Buried treasure – and the excitement of discovering it – lies at the heart of this fascinating exhibition exploring coin hoards.

The Barber Institute’s collection contains coins from no fewer than 48 hoards, of which eight will be uncovered here. These include two caches unearthed in Britain: the Dorchester Hoard, dug up during building work at the town’s Marks and Spencer; and the Appleford Hoard, unearthed by a farmer ploughing his field one new year’s eve.

 Telling the stories of the hoards' depositions and their discoveries, the exhibition will open a mysterious doorway into Roman, Byzantine and Turkman worlds. It will prompt some intriguing questions: Who buried them and why? Who found them and how? What can these discoveries tell us about people who lived centuries ago? And what can we do today to preserve this heritage?