Known as gold staters, the ancient coins have been acquired by the Museum of Chelmsford, joining the original 933 coins from the hoard which will go on public display this July. Read more on the Museum of Chelmsford website.
Excavation aimed to uncover further context of the hoard
The Great Baddow Hoard is the largest Iron Age gold coin hoard ever found in Britain. Discovered in a field in Great Baddow, Chelmsford in 2020, it was acquired by the Museum of Chelmsford in 2025 thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and other supporters.
Following the announcement in May 2025 that the museum had acquired the Great Baddow Hoard, a series of National Lottery Heritage Fund supported projects have taken place throughout 2025 and 2026 to explore the hoard and try to unravel its mysteries. One of these projects was a fresh investigation of the findspot, which aimed to further understand the context of its burial.
The Museum of Chelmsford commissioned Archaeology South-East (ASE), part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, to undertake this excavation in autumn 2025.
Two further ‘Whaddon Chase’ gold staters recovered during excavation
The excavation saw a team of two archaeologists from ASE dig a two-metre-square trench, excavating down to the ground’s undisturbed natural deposit to search for clues about the burial of the hoard.
Halfway through the excavation, Senior Archaeologist, Rob Cullum, recovered two Iron Age gold coins from the trench. Both coins were identified as the same ‘Whaddon Chase’ type of Eastern British staters as 930 of the previously discovered coins. They feature a horse depicted on the obverse and an abstract style wreath design on the reverse.
As the coins contain gold, the ASE team quickly declared them as treasure under the Treasure Act and reported them to the Local Finds Liaison Officer. The finds were then processed and analysed by ASE and the British Museum via the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). The Museum of Chelmsford officially acquired both coins in April 2026, adding them to the previously acquired 933 coins.
Councillor Jennie Lardge, Cabinet Deputy for Cultural Services at Chelmsford City Council is pleased that the two newly uncovered coins have been reunited with the wider hoard:
“It is enormously thrilling to see the Museum of Chelmsford’s efforts to understand more about this incredible moment in Chelmsford’s Iron Age history uncover two additional Iron Age coins.
“These tiny treasures belong with the rest of the Great Baddow Hoard, and so I’m delighted that they’re joining the 933 other coins to go on display at the Museum of Chelmsford. Their story will undoubtedly inspire and fascinate visitors for generations to come.”
No further clues revealed from archaeological investigations
Despite discovering two further coins from the Great Baddow Hoard, the archaeological excavations sadly revealed no further context surrounding the burial of the Great Baddow Hoard.
Prior to the excavation, a geophysical survey of the field had also been conducted by the Community Archaeology Geophysics Group, led by Dr Kris Lockyear, Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. This involved scanning the entire field using a magnetometer to reveal any anomalies in the landscape. The results of this also revealed no significant features that might be obviously related to the findspot.
Claire Willetts, Curatorial and Exhibitions Officer, says the hoard’s purpose will remain a mystery for now:
“Though these additional coins are an incredibly exciting find, it seems that the Great Baddow Hoard findspot is yet to reveal all of its secrets. We had high hopes that further archaeological investigations would tell us more about how and why the hoard ended up buried in a field just outside of Chelmsford for over 2,000 years.
“Did the owner intend to return for the hoard but never managed to? Was it part of a ritual burial? Perhaps an offering to the gods? Or could the coins have been struck as a tribute payment linked to Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain in 54BC?
“With no further evidence revealed through this recent excavation, the question of why this huge sum of Late Iron Age coins was buried and never retrieved will remain a great mystery for now.”
New exhibition to explore theories behind hoard
The theories behind the burial of the Great Baddow Hoard are set to be explored as part of a new exhibition, Timeless Treasures: Unlocking the Great Baddow Coin Hoard, opening this summer at the Museum of Chelmsford.
Timeless Treasures will see all 935 coins from the Great Baddow Hoard go on public display for the very first time. As well as delving into the mystery of the hoard and Chelmsford’s Iron Age history, the exhibition will explore the concept of ‘treasure’ and how our thoughts around it have changed over the millennia, to ask: ‘what are our treasures of today?’
Timeless Treasures: Unlocking the Great Baddow Coin Hoard runs at the Museum of Chelmsford from 18 July 2026 until 11 April 2027. Following the exhibition, the Great Baddow Hoard will go on permanent display in the museum’s Prehistory Gallery.