Over the last few months I have been researching a coin hoard found in Bootham, York, which was probably deposited between 1480-83. The hoard was excavated in 1896, but has never been properly researched and has only had limited cataloguing.

My first task was to identify all 98 coins in our collection to put them onto our computer cataloguing system. This included transcribing any visible text on the coin, noting any interesting symbols or mint marks on the coin, and using all of this information to find a general reference number in coin catalogues which can be used by other numismatists. I also took pictures of all of the coins to be put online so that anyone can view them.

Once this was completed, important research into the provenance of the hoard had to be done. We were unsure how the museum came to be in possession of the hoard, and I managed to track down an auction record from 1919 which showed the museum – then the Yorkshire Philosophical Society – purchasing the coins.

I managed to track down several documents referencing the hoard in the early 1900s, one of which referred to identifying a bundle of 432 coins in 1900. By comparing this document with what we hold, it was concluded that the coins we hold at the museum are but a fraction of a larger hoard, possibly numbering around 800 coins to a value in excess of 900 (old) pence.

Considering the average silver hoard from this period comes to the value of 49 (old) pence, this was clearly an incredibly rich hoard!

The last, and perhaps most important task, was to try and figure out where the coins had been found. All we knew was that the site was called Bootham (The Gables). Various searches turned up little beyond a BnB called The Gables located in Bootham Crescent, which after further research seemed unlikely to be our location.

By complete chance, one day whilst walking down Bootham road, we found a building with a stone saying “The Gables” on it. This led us to wonder if it could have any relation to our hoard. By consulting maps of the area from 1300 and 1500 it was discovered that not only were there buildings on this site in both periods, but that on the 1300 map there was a large building called “Bulmer House”.

Further research showed that this property was owned by the Bulmer family, a very rich and important family in Yorkshire whose aristocratic roots were traced to before the Norman Conquest in 1066. The family were exceedingly wealthy, owning vast amounts of land across Yorkshire and Durham.

The fact that the house was recorded in 1300 but had disappeared by 1500 led me to wonder if the destruction of the house could have been linked to the deposition of our hoard – after all, this was a very wealthy hoard.

In reality, I have not been able to find any links to the Bulmer family and this plot of land in the 1480s, and so it seems unlikely – though not impossible – that it was in fact related to them. The plot of land was right next to St Mary’s Abbey, and so it could be feasible that the money could relate to the Abbey, who would also have held vast amount of wealth (the Bulmer family were also long time patrons of the abbey).

But why were the coins left there? It seems likely that the hoard was deposited shortly before Richard III’s reign, thus putting it in the midst of the Wars of the Roses.

In June 1483, Richard III appealed to the City of York to ask for their support again Queen Elizabeth Woodville and her family, in his bid to remove her family’s power and usurp her son, Edward V’s, crown.

Perhaps the owner of the coins, sensing the tense political situation of a detained child king and warring royals, decided to hide some of their fortune to keep it safe during the tumult, and was never able to retrieve it.

In reality, we will probably never know for sure where exactly the hoard was found, who it was buried by, and why. But through the course of research this parcel of fifteenth century coins certainly opens up much intrigue, and gives us a tangible link to one of the most turbulent periods of English history.

If you want to hear more about this hoard, come to the Yorkshire Museum on 17th May at 12.30 to listen to our talk!