The Catherinefield, Dumfries, Hoard, 2007-8

In 2007 a group of metal-detectorists working in a field at Catherinefield Farm, Dumfries, began to unearth a scatter of hammered silver coins. These had been spread across an area about 100 m � 50 m, but it rapidly became clear that they belonged to a hoard disturbed by ploughing. By the end of 2007 a total of 145 coins had been recovered, and a further eleven were found in the early part of 2008, but despite some excavation in the area where coins had been found in the greatest concentration and at the greatest depth, no undisturbed residue was located. Neither was there any definite evidence of a container, although one foot from a bronze tripod bowl was recovered. The coins were catalogued by the writer at the National Museum of Scotland and were claimed as Treasure Trove and allocated to Dumfries Museum. It remains possible that more coins will eventually be recovered if the detectorists return to the field after further ploughing takes place, but this is not expected to happen in the near future, and the number and identity of those already available for study are sufficient to allow some analysis of the hoard to be carried out, even though we have no idea what proportion of it has so far been recovered.