Hoxne Hoard — British Museum, London
Late Roman treasure · found 1992 near Hoxne, Suffolk
Photo: Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.
The Hoxne Hoard is a late Roman treasure of 14,865 coins and about 200 gold and silver objects buried in Suffolk in late Roman times. Eric Lawes found it on 16 November 1992 while using a metal detector to look for tenant farmer Peter Whatling’s lost hammer. Archaeologists excavated the rest of the deposit the next day, and the hoard is shown at the British Museum. Source Source Source Reported
Seen Jun 2010: the newest dated photo we found shows a British Museum display case reconstructing how the hoard lay when excavated (camera date). Wikipedia places the hoard in Room 49. Source Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Looking for a hammerOn 16 November 1992 Eric Lawes was sweeping a field near Hoxne for a hammer that tenant farmer Peter Whatling had lost. Source Reported
- Dug by archaeologistsThe Britannia report says the finder located the treasure on 16 November, and archaeologists excavated the remainder on 17 November 1992. Source Reported
- Coins and table silverThe hoard holds 14,865 Roman coins and about 200 items of silver tableware and gold jewelry. Source Reported
- The hammer was kept tooPeter Whatling’s lost hammer was recovered and is now in the British Museum’s collection, according to Earth.com and Wikipedia. Source Source Reported
📍 Where it is
Found in a field near Hoxne, Suffolk, England; shown at the British Museum, London (Room 49, according to Wikipedia). Source Source Reported
The map opens at the British Museum.
🗓️ Sightings
- 199216 Nov
Eric Lawes finds the hoard while looking for a lost hammer
- 199217 Nov
Archaeologists excavate the rest of the hoard
- 1994Nov
Britannia paper on the hoard published (Nov 1994)
- 201027 Jun
Hoard display photographed at the British Museum (camera date)
- 20268 Nov
Earth.com retells the lost-hammer find
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
A man searching for a lost hammer in England accidentally discovered the richest Roman treasure ever found in Britain
“On November 16, 1992, Eric Lawes was sweeping a field near Hoxne, in Suffolk, England, for a hammer that tenant farmer Peter Whatling had lost.”
✅ The facts
🔗 Related
- Found by Accident (11 Photos) — Street Art Utopia, where the photo above appeared.
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- Britannia (Cambridge University Press) — Britannia paper on the Hoxne late Roman treasure
- Wikipedia — Reference article
- Earth.com — A man searching for a lost hammer in England accidentally discovered the richest Roman treasure ever found in Britain — 8 November 2026
- Wikimedia Commons — Photograph of Hoxne Hoard gold jewelry, silver spoons and coins in a British Museum case
- Hero image: Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 8 November 2026 · How we verify art