Each twist of metal would be painstakingly clipped off the edge of a silver coin. The clippings would subsequently be melted down and mixed with less valuable metals to create forged coins and other objects.

Coin clipping and counterfeiting was a prevalent illegal activity in the 17th century, particularly during the period of the English Civil War, 1642-1651. Indeed, the Great Recoinage initiated by Parliament in 1696 decreed that all silver coins and clippings were to be recalled and replaced, attesting the extent to which clipping and counterfeiting comprised the currency in circulation in this period. Kent speculates that this clipping hoard could have been deposited in the ground during the Great Recoinage.

A number of comparative examples are known from Derbyshire. In March 1846 another hoard of coin clippings contained within a ceramic vessel, comprising denominations of Philip and Mary, Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I was discovered a few metres from this hoard, in Beacon Medow, Alderwasley. This hoard weighed 3.6kg and its contents were melted down to create a chalice, paten, flagon, and alms dish for the local church. It is probably the case that the two hoards were collated and buried by the same counterfeiter. A similar hoard recovered from the Milnthorpe area of North East Derbyshire is recorded on the PAS database: DENO-789371.

Counterfeiting has a famous historical connection to Derbyshire. 1676 Noah Bullock was apprehended for clipping and counterfeiting coins from a boat he had constructed, moored on the River Derwent near Morledge, Derby, which has colloquially become known as 'Noah's Ark'. At the time, coin forgery was punishable by execution, though Bullock was spared the death penalty and acquitted, allegedly due to a close friendship with the presiding Judge, Recorder Dregge (Armitage, J. 2014. Derby: A History. Amberley: Stroud).