File:Roman Pin. Treasure case no. 2009 T279 (FindID 258500).jpg

English: Treasure: 2009 T279. A fragment of a silver pin consisting of a spherical head and a small portion of the shaft. The head, 6.3mm in diameter, is decorated with deep spiralling grooves and the shaft is circular in section with a diameter of 1.3mm. The break on the shaft is old. Although no direct Roman parallel may be cited for this object, the spherical shape and grooving are common features of the finial of many Roman metal hair pins (See e.g. H.E.M. Cool, 'Roman metal hair pins from Southern Britain', Archaeological Journal 147, 1990, 148-82) and a Roman date is likely. Length: 10.0mm; diameter of head: 6.3mm; weight: 1.03g. The find contains a minimum of 10% silver. Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.

Update: Although spherical heads with grooving are a feature of several of Cool's types of Roman pin (e.g. Cool 1990, Group 13), there is no close parallel to this pin within Roman material. The form is, however, well-known from middle Anglo-Saxon contexts where it is known informally as 'wrythen-headed'. This example is slightly unusual in that it has no collar between head and shaft, but it is still closely comparable to examples in silver such as LIN-F5DB99, LIN-D22765, and SF-92C643. This last also has no collar. While a Roman date is not impossible, the parallels point more strongly to a middle Anglo-Saxon date, and the period and date fields for this record have therefore been changed accordingly.