7 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Coin hoard found in fireplace ‘belonging to Scottish clan chief’ murdered at infamous Glencoe Massacre

Coins believed to have belonged to a Scottish clan chief murdered in an infamous 17th-century Glencoe massacre, have been found in a fireplace by by University of Glasgow archaeology student Lucy Ankers on her first dig.

Lucy Ankers discovered the hoard of 36 coins at a site associated with Alasdair Ruadh “Maclain” MacDonald of Glencoe, who was slaughtered during the Glencoe Massacre in 1692.

Approximately 120 government soldiers attacked the MacDonald clan in western Scotland in 1692, killing dozens of people and driving many more from their homes. The massacre, now known as the Glencoe Massacre, became one of the most notorious incidents in Scottish history, inspiring literature, songs, and even the famous “Red Wedding” scene in “Game of Thrones.”

The MacDonalds took part in the first Jacobite rising of 1689, this resulted in the clan being targeted in the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe. In late January 1692, two companies or approximately 120 men from the Earl of Argyll’s Regiment of Foot arrived in Glencoe from Invergarry. Their commander was Robert Campbell of Glenlyon. An estimated 38 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed on 13 February 1692, including Maclain and his wife.

The 36 coins, which vary in date, were discovered in the grand fireplace of the Glencoe house during an archaeological dig in August 2023. The coins were found in a pot, with a small rounded pebble for a lid and hidden beneath a hearthstone stab.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Currency from the time of Elizabeth I, James VI and I, Charles I, the Cromwellian Commonwealth, and Charles II – as well as France and the Spanish Netherlands and the Papal States – was among the collection.

Lucy Ankers, who discovered the hoard, examining the coins in a lab at the University of Glasgow. Credit Gareth Beale
Lucy Ankers, who discovered the hoard, examining the coins in a lab at the University of Glasgow. Credit Gareth Beale

They date to between the late 1500s and the 1680s, leading University researchers to hypothesize “that they were most likely deposited under the fireplace either just before or during the 1692 Glencoe Massacre for safekeeping,” per the statement. “Whoever buried the coins did not return for them, which could indicate that they were among the victims of the massacre.”

The archaeologists say the coins could be connected to Alasdair “Maclain” MacDonald of Glencoe, who served as chief of the MacDonald clan between 1646 and 1692. The coins were found in Maclain’s “summerhouse,” a hunting lodge and feasting hall used by the chiefs. MacIain was known to have traveled Europe in his youth, and some of the coins may be personal souvenirs from his early life, according to the researchers.

“Were these coins witnesses to this dramatic story?” says archaeologist Michael Given, a co-director of the project, in the statement. “It’s a real privilege to hold in our hands these objects that were so much [a] part of people’s lives.”

 â€śAs a first experience of a dig, Glencoe was amazing,” Ms Ankers says in the statement. “I wasn’t expecting such an exciting find as one of my firsts, and I don’t think I will ever beat the feeling of seeing the coins peeking out of the dirt in the pot.”

Musket and fowling shot, a gun flint and a powder measure, as well as pottery from England, Germany and the Netherlands and the remains of a grand slab floor were also found at the site.

University of Glasgow

Cover Photo: The coin hoard, pot, and lid. Gareth Beale

Related Articles

Israeli researchers have found evidence of cooking fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

14 November 2022

14 November 2022

Hominins living at Gesher Benot Ya’akov 780,000 years ago liked their fish to be well cooked, Israeli researchers revealed Monday,...

5,000-year-old Settlement Unearthed in Al Mudhaibi, Oman

3 January 2023

3 January 2023

The Oman News Agency announced that a 5,000-year-old settlement was discovered during archaeological excavations at the Al Gharyein archaeological site...

New documentary searches history of Turkey’s 7,000-year-old Arslantepe Mound

28 December 2021

28 December 2021

The tale of Turkey’s fascinating 7,000-year-old Arslantepe Mound, an ancient building in Malatya, eastern Turkey that was just added to...

Archaeologists discover 1200-year-old Wari temple complex in Peru

24 February 2023

24 February 2023

Archaeologists from the University of Illinois Chicago have uncovered a temple complex constructed by the Wari Empire 1,200 years ago...

Ancient Celtic Bone Pen Found in Southern Germany

14 December 2024

14 December 2024

From August to October this year, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (LAD) in the Stuttgart Regional Council...

Human Activity on Curaçao Began Centuries Earlier Than Previously Believed

28 March 2024

28 March 2024

New research co-led by Simon Fraser University and the National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM Foundation) in Curaçao extends the...

Electoral inscriptions just discovered in Pompeii reveal clientelism in ancient Rome

29 September 2023

29 September 2023

Several electoral inscriptions, the ancient equivalent of today’s electoral posters and pamphlets, have appeared on the walls of the room...

Two mysterious stone balls were found buried in a tomb dating to 3500 BC in Orkney

2 September 2021

2 September 2021

In Orkney, archaeologists discovered two carved stone balls in a tomb dating from 3500 BC. Archaeologists are on-site at Tresness,...

Rare Viking Armlet and 2,000-Year-Old Golden Neck Ring Discovered in Sweden

20 March 2025

20 March 2025

Recently, two extraordinary archaeological finds have captivated the attention of historians and enthusiasts alike in Sweden. The first discovery, an...

Archaeologists discover innovative 40,000-year-old culture in China

2 March 2022

2 March 2022

Ancient hunter-gatherers living in what is now China may have been the first people in East Asia to process mustard...

Part of The ‘Missing Link’ in Human Migration may have been Found in Kaldar Cave

3 April 2021

3 April 2021

Kaldar cave is an important archaeological site that provides evidence for the transition from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Ages...

A very Rare Medieval Pocket Sundial Discovered in Germany

31 July 2023

31 July 2023

A rare Medieval sundial, which is approximately the size of a matchbox was discovered in the old town of Marburg,...

Scotland’s oldest tartan discovered in Highlands bog

1 April 2023

1 April 2023

According to new research, a piece of fabric discovered in a bog in the Scottish Highlands may be the oldest...

Archaeologists Unearth Rare 9,000-Year-Old Stone Age Hammer in Norway

4 October 2025

4 October 2025

Archaeologists in Norway have uncovered a rare and fascinating piece of history: a 9,000-year-old hammer dating back to the Stone...

New research, prove that Romans were breeding small bulldogs

11 June 2023

11 June 2023

Researchers have proven that breeding small brachycephalic (shorter-nosed) dogs took place already in ancient Rome. Research on a 2,000 years...

  • A few years ago, I wrote a novel called The Tacksman’s Daughter about the Glencoe Massacre. There’s a lot of speculation about how the coins got there, who they belonged to, and when they were buried. It’s certainly possibly they belonged to MacIain, clan chief of the MacDonalds of Glencoe. Even more possible is that one of his sons or servants may have buried them for him when the king’s soldiers arrived in the village that cold day in February. Hopefully, we’ll know the truth some day.