Two rare Roman lead ingots discovered by metal detectorists in Llangenfellen, Ceredigion County, Wales, are the first of their kind to be found in West Wales. He was declared public treasure at a coroner’s inquest in January.
Nick Yallope and Peter Nicolas discovered two lead ingots while scanning a pasture on farmland belonging to Geraint Jenkins. The ingots were buried about a foot and a half below the surface and six and a half feet apart. They were cast in an elongated trapezoidal shape with a 
rectangular base. Their flat tops bear the inscription IMP DOMIT CAE AUG XIII COS, meaning “Imperator Domitianus Caesar Augustus, Thirteenth Consul.” The years of the consulship are referred to by stamps of AD 87, six years into the reign of Emperor Domitian (r. 81-96 AD).
Known as pigs, the ingots were cast into molds with impressions on the bottom. The shape was chosen for ease of handling, stacking and shipping. They were large, up to two feet long and weighed more than 150 pounds on average, an inherent theft deterrent. About 100 such pigs are known from Roman Britain, and less than half of them exist today. They are important archaeological evidence of Roman exploitation of Britain’s metal resources, one of the main motivations for Emperor Claudius’ invasion in AD 43, as no Roman mine workings survive. Roman demand for lead, especially among base metals, was high because it was used as an alloy for water pipes, roofing, and weapons and construction.
Dates written on lead pigs are evidence that the Romans wasted no time in working mines in Britain as soon as they conquered an area, in use by the local people for centuries. The earliest inscribed boars date from Mendips in Somerset to AD 49 and bear the names of legions. As the conquest moved to other important mining areas over the next three decades, forts were built at the mining sites, reflecting the military’s direct control and management of the central resources of the newly conquered territories. The conquest of Wales was completed in AD 78, so less than a decade after all of Wales came under Roman control the Ceredigion pigs were cast. The stamps are evidence that lead mines in the area were still under Roman imperial administration, even in areas that had previously been conquered, with rights to mine the metal being granted to private companies and individual owners.
A valuation committee will now estimate the market value of the ingots and then a local museum will be given the opportunity to acquire the items for the estimated amount. The fee will then be split 50/50 between the finder and the landlord. Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth is excited to acquire them for its collection.
Ceredigion Museum Curator Kerry Canham said: ‘We are very excited about the prospect of acquiring these wonderful objects. Ceredigion’s rich mineral deposits were one of the main reasons why the Romans attempted to conquer the region. The lead that was mined here would travel throughout the Roman Empire, and these ingots draw attention to Ceredigion’s importance in building the empire of Emperor Domitian Caesar Augustus. We plan to share this story in our new archeology gallery, which will open in 2027, so the timing of this discovery couldn’t be better.
