Britain’s largest recorded Iron Age gold coin hoard secured for Museum of Chelmsford
A hoard of 933 gold Iron Age coins, thought to be possibly linked to Julius Caesar, has been acquired by the Museum of Chelmsford thanks to a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Great Baddow Hoard is an exceptional find of national importance, shedding light on the activity of Iron Age tribes in the east of England.
It was acquired in May 2025 thanks to funding of £250,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Additional contributions came from Chelmsford City Council, Friends of Chelmsford Museums, Essex Society for Archaeology and History, Essex Heritage Trust, Council for British Archaeology East, and Essex Numismatics Society.
The Heritage Fund grant will also support a series of projects to engage the local community with the hoard, which is set to go on display at the Museum of Chelmsford from summer 2026.
Liz Bates, Director, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
““We are pleased to support the Museum of Chelmsford with funding to purchase and display this one-of-a-kind Iron Age hoard. These remarkable treasures will go on public display just a few miles from where they were found, with opportunities for locals and visitors to better understand Iron Age Chelmsford. This is all possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.”
Liz Bates, Director, England, Midlands & East at The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Chelmsford City Council’s Cabinet Deputy for Cultural Services, Councillor Jennie Lardge, says this is an important acquisition for the people of Chelmsford:
““The Museum of Chelmsford’s curatorial team has worked extremely hard over the last year to secure funding to bring the Great Baddow Hoard back to Chelmsford, where it belongs. We are immensely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players for this critical grant, which has allowed us to acquire the hoard in its entirety, preventing it from being split and sold privately.
Cllr Jennie Lardge, Cabinet Deputy for Cultural Services, Chelmsford City Council
“Not a lot is known about Chelmsford’s Iron Age history and the Great Baddow Hoard helps us fill some of the gaps in the archaeological record of this period. By bringing the whole hoard back to Chelmsford, we can continue to research its significance and preserve it for local people and visitors to enjoy for years to come. I hope that many of our residents, especially those in Great Baddow, will feel as I do, an immense pride in this outstanding piece of Britain’s history uncovered here in Chelmsford.”
Coins confirm Roman records of aggression between Britain’s Iron Age tribes
Dating to 60-20BC, the Great Baddow Hoard was discovered in 2020, more than 2,000 years after it was buried. Consisting of 933 coins, along with fragments of a possible container or vessel, it is the largest recorded hoard of Iron Age gold coins ever found in Britain.
The Great Baddow Hoard consists of 933 gold coins and fragments of a possible container. Image credits: Fountains Media/Museum of Chelmsford
The coins come from a time when Iron Age tribes in Britain had first begun striking their own coins using regional dies (metal stamps), after initially importing Celtic coins from overseas.
The Great Baddow Hoard is significant in providing the first archaeological evidence of aggression between the neighbouring Trinovantes and Catuvellauni of the east of England. As Museum of Chelmsford Curator, Claire Willetts, explains:
““Most of the coins in the Great Baddow Hoard are thought to have been produced in the region later associated with the so-called ‘Catuvellauni’ and it is theorised they could have been intended as a tribute payment to Roman general Julius Caesar. The hoard’s discovery in what is traditionally considered Trinovantian territory at Great Baddow may indicate movement or influence from western tribal groups into the east, potentially aligning with accounts of upheaval during Caesar’s second invasion of Britain in 54 BC. While these events were recorded in Roman sources, until now there has been little archaeological evidence to support them, making the Great Baddow Hoard a significant find for our understanding of eastern Britain in the late Iron Age.”
Claire Willetts, Curatorial and Exhibition Officer, Museum of Chelmsford
The Finds Liaison Officer for Essex, Lori Rogerson, added that displaying the hoard in a local museum will help engage audiences in Chelmsford’s Iron Age history:
““The Great Baddow Hoard is a nationally significant discovery, one which has the potential to engage, inspire, and connect individuals and communities from the area with a tantalising, exciting, and colourful story of the city’s prehistoric past.
Lori Rogerson, Finds Liaison Officer for Essex, Portable Antiquities Scheme
“In the coming years, visitors seeing the hoard at the Museum of Chelmsford will be in awe at its size and gold content and they’ll be led to ask questions such as ‘who owned such a large stash of precious coins?’ and ‘why was it put in the ground, never to be returned to?’. By displaying the hoard in its entirety at a local museum, local audiences have a valuable opportunity to engage with part of their history and be curious about what it reveals of the people who lived in their home city thousands of years before them.”
The 933 gold coins include 930 Eastern British staters of the ‘Whaddon Chase’ type, as well as three individual different coins. Image credits: Fountains Media.
Find highlights importance of responsible metal detecting
Though the hoard is an incredible find for Chelmsford, providing a better understanding of Iron Age tribes in the area, the circumstances of its discovery stand as a reminder of the importance of responsible metal detecting.
The hoard was found on private land in Great Baddow by a metal detectorist who did not have permission to be detecting there. On discovering the hoard, the finder initially failed to declare the find under the Treasure Act 1996, limiting the potential for the archaeological context to be understood.
The finder later declared the discovery to the landowner and the hoard was submitted to the Finds Liaison Officer for Essex. Following this, the finder was arrested by Essex Police on being found in possession of further undeclared coins.
The Great Baddow Hoard was catalogued at the British Museum, where it was confirmed by the Coroner for Essex to constitute Treasure. It was valued by the independent Treasure Valuation Committee, who recommended that the finder be given no reward due to his actions and the landowner alone receive a reward for the find. The finder has since been found guilty by Chelmsford Magistrates Court of failure to declare Treasure and the attempted theft of 23 coins by finding.
Hoard to be displayed at Museum of Chelmsford from summer 2026
Alongside the acquisition of the Great Baddow Hoard, funding supplied by The National Lottery Heritage Fund will also support further research into the hoard, as well as a programme of outreach and community projects designed to connect local audiences with its history. More about these projects will be shared in the coming months.
The Great Baddow Hoard will go on public display for the first time in a dedicated temporary exhibition from summer 2026. Following the exhibition, the hoard will go on permanent display in the museum from spring 2027.
Cherelle writes about Chelmsford Theatre, the Museum of Chelmsford, Hylands Estate, the Mayor of Chelmsford and culture and events in the city.