A HAUL of almost 4,000 Roman coins found by a Wootton Bassett man could be returning to Wiltshire.

County coroner David Masters decided that the 3,844 bronze coins uncovered by keen metal detector Clive May on August 29 last year in a field near Alton Barnes were treasure to be retained by the Crown.

Landscape gardener Mr May, 51, said he had been scanning the field with the permission of its owner when he picked up a signal.

Fifteen inches below the surface he uncovered the coins and a clay pot they had been buried in.

As well as the coins and shattered pot, Mr May uncovered a Roman gaming board made of bone.

Questioning him during a treasure trove inquest in Swindon yesterday, Mr Masters described the coins as an absolutely marvellous find.

"I was quite shocked," Mr May replied. "As far as I could see, most of them were all right. Some were stuck together."

Mr May said he and the landowner had since agreed to evenly split any prize money paid for the find.

In a statement read to the court by Mr Masters, British Museum expert Dr Richard Abdy said the coins dated from 240 to 281 AD.

Dr Abdy said the coins were found together and were each more than 300 years old so could come under the treasure regulations.

Museum finds liaison officer Katie Hinds said the coins could possibly have been buried during the time of upheaval when the Roman Empire was disintegrating.

"There's a lot of discontent," she said. "They are burying their property.

"Many people didn't make it back to retrieve them."

Ms Hinds said the coins were radiates - a division of a denarius - and were bronze with about one per cent silver.

Asked what a radiate would buy, Ms Hinds said: "A denarius is supposed to keep you in wine, women and song for a couple of days."

Mr Masters found the coins were treasure. The value is to be determined by the British Museum and paid to Mr May and the landowner.

Mr Masters said he hoped Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes would buy and display the coins, crediting Mr May with the find.

"Let's hope they can come to the Devizes museum and in that display they can be associated with your name," Mr Masters told Mr May.