Numismatic UK Tour 2025 – Day 5
On day five the group headed to Wales, stopping for a couple of museums along the way.
We spent a lot of time on the road today heading from London to Cardiff, Wales. We stopped along the way in Oxford to visit the Ashmolean Museum. Part of the visit included a special gallery tour with one of the museum’s many experts. They have a wonderful money exhibit, as well as coins scattered throughout, supplementing various other exhibits where they are relevant. They also have many marble statues, so if you’re into ancient coinage, you can walk through the gallery and see how many faces you recognize as being featured on the coins; an interesting approach to learning more about the people featured on the money.
Many of the tour guests expressed how impressed they were with the museum and were surprised it is not well-known. So here’s your insider tip: if you’re able to visit Oxford, then make sure to add the Ashmolean to your itinerary! There is much to see, and you’ll want a whole day to explore the exhibits. We only had a few hours, so the private tour was helpful in pointing out some highlights the museum has to offer.
After lunch, we headed back on the road to Newport, just outside of Cardiff, where we took some time to explore the Caerleon Roman Legion Museum. The building was small, but they have many artifacts on display that were excavated from the area, including a coin hoard that is theorized to have been buried by a retired Roman soldier.
It began to rain, and everyone was getting tired from the long day, so after a few of us walked nearby to check out the Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre, we headed to Cardiff to end our day.
Tomorrow is a day to look forward to, as we head to the Royal Mint for a tour.
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