SOME of the rarest Roman coins ever discovered in Wiltshire are set to go on display for one day only.

The Malmesbury Coin Hoard, a collection of 1,266 Roman coins dating back from 305-367 AD will be on display in the village of Crudwell next month.

Discovered by a metal detectorist in a field near Malmesbury six years ago, the coins have rarely been seen.

Worth between £5 and £10 in today's market, the small coins were buried in an earthenware pot about 12 inches below the surface, possibly at the time of turbulence in the Roman Empire.

Emperors depicted on the coins so far identified include Constantine, Maximianus, Licinius and Allectus.

So far, less than 20 per cent of the hoard has bene painstakingly cleaned, an extremely delicate process done by hand under a microscope.

“It was such an exciting discovery,” said Maria Marsh, project manager of the hoard, “but there are so many coins it is going to be a long time before each one is cleaned, photographed, weighed, measured and identified.

"The more people we have to help the sooner it will be done.”

“We are not looking for a long-term commitment to the project, just any time anyone with a bit of interest in local history can spare.”

Anyone interested in volunteering, or just learning more about this exciting project, should visit malmesburycoinhoard.uk

The coins will be on display at the Crudwell Strawberry Fayre on Saturday, July 14, on the village green near the church, from 10am to 4pm.

Malmesbury’s Athelstan Museum, which raised the money to buy the hoard after its discovery in 2012, is hoping that the public display of the coins might raise enough interest for people in the neighbourhood to volunteer some of their time to help catalogue the collection.