12/14/2025
The Hoxne Hoard was discovered by a retired farmer named Eric Lawes in 1992 while he was searching for a friend’s lost hammer in a field near the village of Hoxne, Suffolk. Armed with a metal detector—a retirement gift—Lawes stumbled onto a signal that turned out to be far more significant than a misplaced tool. Instead of the hammer, he uncovered Roman silver spoons, gold jewelry, and dozens of coins. Recognizing the importance of what he’d found, Lawes did something most don’t: he stopped digging and called the authorities.
A professional archaeological team excavated the site properly, eventually recovering over 15,000 coins and nearly 200 pieces of finely crafted silver and gold—sealed in a chest and likely buried in the early 5th century as the Roman Empire crumbled. The hammer, by the way, was also found—alongside the treasure—and is now on display at the British Museum next to the hoard. Lawes was awarded £1.75 million, split with the landowner, as part of a reward under the Treasure Act. In today’s terms, the hoard is valued at roughly $6 million USD. His decision to report the find properly became a model case for ethical metal detecting in Britain.
