http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/ancient_coin_on_display_at_halesworth_museum_1_4056226
Ancient coin on display at Halesworth Museum
06:30 02 May 2015
The coin was found in the back garden of a cottage in Suffolk.
A coin dating from 200 years BC has gone on display in Halesworth 20 years after it was discovered in a back garden in Suffolk.
The coin has the head of an eagle on one side and on the other the portrait of Zeus Ammon, a version of the Greek god worshipped in ancient Egypt.
It was found by 87-year-old Peter Cutts while he was digging in the garden of his Wissett cottage and mystery still surrounds the coin and how it was brought more than 2,000 miles to the county.
It has gone on display at Halesworth and District Museum as part of an exhibition featuring historical items found by residents of Wissett.
Jenny Ball, a volunteer at the museum and guest curator of the exhibition, brought together the hundreds of exhibits for the Wissett Through the Ages display.
She said: “I was amazed at the range of things which the people of Wissett came up with, but this was totally unexpected and has got us all puzzled.
“From archaeological finds, we know there were many Romans settled in this area and Egypt was by then a province of Rome, but this coin was already over 200 years old when the Romans first conquered Britain.”
Wissett has developed something of a reputation for the richness of its history and archaeology after two hoards of Bronze Age axe heads, spears and a rapier blade were discovered in 2011.
They were found by Chris Frost and Marilyn Throssell, who were using metal detectors, and discovered the hoards about nine feet apart.
Examination of the objects has shown them to be over three thousand years old, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, according to the museum.
Visitors to the latest display will see examples of almost every period from fossils from the Triassic period, some 200 million years ago, through Roman and mediaeval finds right up to the present day.
Later objects include relics from the village smithy and from the bell tower of Wissett church. The Egyptian coin together with all the other items will be on display in the museum on Station Road until September, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm and on Wednesday from 2pm to 4pm.
Have you uncovered an unusual or rare piece? Email lynn.crombie@archant.co.uk or call 01502 712060.
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