A £10,000 hoard of 228 silver Roman coins found on Synton Hill in 2011 was put on display at Melrose’s Trimontium Museum on Friday.
The coins, dating from the 1st to 2nd century AD, and depicting Roman Emperors from Vespasian to Commodus, as well as their wives and children, were unearthed near Ashkirk by Hawick metal detectorist Jim Middleton.
The Treasure Trove panel awarded the artefacts to the Trimontium Trust and Scottish Borders Council (SBC), who raised £11,000 to clean and display the coins in the Borders, from Acquisition Trust grants and a legacy from the Melrose Song composer Rev Jack Drummond.
Fiona Colton of SBC Museums Service devised the clock-shaped display ‘tray’ with its fourteen compartments, separating each Emperor’s coins. The Trimontium Museum’s exhibition at The Ormiston in Melrose’s Square joins the Lockie Bronze Collection of Roman and Greek coinage.
“This is a feather in our cap, so we’re really pleased,” the Trimontium Trust’s Donald Gordon said. “The gods are on our side.”