Upon examining the rich collection of silver vessels and statuettes discovered at Bernay in the Département de l'Eure now in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, I came upon a silver patera (Pl. XXII.) with an emblema in the centre, upon which, in most delicate repoussé work, is the figure of a youthful Hermes, nude, with a chlamys hanging over his left shoulder and down by the side of his arm, a caduceus in his left hand and a purse in his right, in an attitude indicative of a slow walk, and with the head turned upwards.
The valuable discovery of this large collection of ancient silver was made on the 21st of March, 1830. A Norman peasant named Prosper Taurin, while ploughing his field situated in the hamlet Le Villeret, Commune de Berthouville, Arrondissement de Bernay, Département de l'Eure, came upon an obstacle which, instead of simply avoiding as his predecessors had done, he resolved to examine. Borrowing a pick from a labourer he removed what appeared to him to be a large pebble, but what in reality was a Roman tile. When this was removed he came upon over a hundred objects in silver which were deposited on some pieces of marl at a depth of six inches, weighing considerably over 50 lbs.