Definition

• Hoard.  Recovered coins (or tokens or medals) that were once buried. Humans have buried coins for many reasons. Those coins that had not been dug up by the person who buried them have been a source of information to archaeologists and of specimens for museums and collectors when retrieved at a later time. The practice of burying coins was more prevalent in ancient times than more recently, but the documenting and describing of coins in a recovered hoard have been an important function of classical numismatics. Literature in the field is resplendent on numismatic hoards.
  Archaeological writer Lloyd Robert Laing describes the six kinds of coin hoards and the reasons for their burial. These included: (1) collected coins, (2) accumulations, (3) coins lost in a catastrophe, (4) mercantile hoards, (5) bullion hoards, and (6) savings hoards. Most often, coins were buried in uncertain times, as an impending invasion.
  The study of hoards is conducted by both historian and numismatist. Much intelligence can be gained by this study, including economic history, trade routes and such. One of the first facts to determine is when the hoard was deposited. All the items in the hoard must be dated prior to this time. The published results of both historian and numismatist result in a vast library of coin history literature.
  By extension the term hoard is applied to any large group of items – the more correct term in this sense is accumulation – reserving the term hoard for buried objects.
  References:                                                                                                                                  
  N8 {1969} Laing, Chapter 3, p 52-68.

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

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