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XXX. Observations on some Antiquities found in the Tower of London in the Year 1777. Addressed to the Society of Antiquaries, Jan. 29, 1778. By the President

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

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Extract

The ingot of silver which I have now the honour to exhibit to the Society, is a most singular curiosity, and was discovered in the month of September last, on digging for the foundations of a new office for the Board of Ordnance in the Tower; where, having sunk to a great depth, and broken through foundations of ancient buildings, it was found on the natural ground, and, as it is supposed, even below the level of the present bed of the river. In the same place were found three gold coins, or aurei; one of the Emperor Honorius, and two of Arcadius, which will be described in the course of these observations. The piece of silver, in the form of a double wedge, is 4 inches long, 2 inches and ¾ broad in the broadest part, 1¾ in the narrowest, and ⅜ of an inch thick in the middle. It was probably cast at first in a square or oblong form, but has since been beaten into a broader superficies, and sharpened towards the extremities, where the strokes of the hammer are plainly visible.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1779

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References

page 291 note * See Pl. XXV. No. 1.

page 293 note * Pl. XXV. No. 2, 3, 4.

page 296 note * These passages are quoted as they stand in the Delphin edition, and in that of Maittaire; but they are cited with the following small variations by Abp. Usher in his Antiquit. Eccles. Britain, p. 181, and 310; and by Camden in his Introduction? Ed. Gibson, p. ciii.

page 296 note * exanimes, Usher and Camd.

page 296 note † munivit, Usher and Camd.

page 296 note ‡ Hybernem, Camd.

page 297 note § nec, Camd.

page 297 note ∥ nec, Camd.

page 297 note * toto, Usher.

page 297 note † venientem, Camd.

page 298 note * Pl. XXV. No. 5.

page 299 note * Pl. XXV. No. 6.

page 299 note † Dr. Hunter has two square pieces of copper, exactly similar to this, and with the same inscription; but they both fall short of that mentioned by Father Montfaucon, the one weighing 66 grains, the other 64.

page 303 note * See Doubletus's History of St. Denis and William de Nangis.

page 305 note * Pl. XXV. No. 7.