Appeal

Dorset Museum & Art Gallery is hoping to acquire a group of 40 gold stater coins found at Charlton Marshall, dating to the 2nd century BCE.

They are incredibly unusual as they were imported from France. They were made by a Gaulish tribe called the Baiocasses and only a very few similar finds are known from Dorset (and indeed the south coast). The only similar group found at Ringwood in 1979 is in the British Museum. Finds like this tell us about how people were travelling, meeting and exchanging ideas with others on the continent in the centuries before the Roman invasion. These coins have considerable potential for future research into their origins, manufacture and use. Unless acquired by Dorset Museum it is likely that the group will be broken up and all possibility of research will be lost.

The Charlton Marshall Gaulish Staters have been valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee at £15,300 and we have already raised £7650 from a generous grant from the ACE/V&A Purchase Fund.

We are seeking support from another trust which has generously helped us in the past, but we will still need to raise a very substantial amount of this money locally. We will also need to find additional funds to put the Charlton Marshall staters on display, and we need to consider future conservation costs.

Please consider donating so that we can secure this hoard to remain in the county.

You can find out more about the hoard on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database: