File:Coin brooch (FindID 56422).jpg

English: A silver penny of William I the Conqueror (1066-1087), 19mm in diameter, chipped at two points, that has been turned into a coin brooch with small traces of solder for the attachment of the catch on the obverse side and a gilt reverse side which exhibits a cross. The coin is rather worn with the secondary gilt finish surviving in the recesses between the motifs and lettering on the reverse and in small areas on the obverse where the gilding survives around parts of the border. Coin type: silver penny of William I, two sceptres type (BMC iv), Thetford mint,moneyer Cinric, reading: [ ] ENRIC ON DEOTF [ ] weight 1.09g (chipped).

While single coin finds do not qualify under the Treasure Act 1996 this find has been modified to become a coin brooch and therefore should be considered as an artefact. The precious metal content for coins of this period is well known and is well above the threshold to qualify as Treasure and the find is also well over 300 years old. The corpus of coin brooches of Anglo-Norman date (broadly 10th C-11th C) is growing and the great majority exhibit the same characteristics as this find with heavy gilding over the reverse and evidence for a catch on the obverse. The presumption must therefore be that these coins were modified in order to show the cross as the standard Christian symbol of devotion.

This find therefore qualifies as treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996 and can be directly compared with similar finds that have been declared treasure elsewhere in the country. EMC 2003.0236