Ancient coins worth $15 million found by amateur treasure hunters

Published June 27, 2012
FoxNews.com

After a search that spanned three decades, two amateur treasure hunters have uncovered the biggest ever hoard of Iron Age silver and gold coins in the UK -- weighing a full ton and valued at $15 million.

Reg Mead and Richard Miles found the stash using a high powered metal detector called a deepseeker. What they discovered was a large block of clay containing 30,000 to 50,000 gold and silver coins dating from the 1st Century BC.

The coins—which could have been buried to prevent Roman troops from getting them during Julius Caesar's invasion of the British Islands—come from Armorica, modern day Brittany and Normandy. They have been buried for more than 2,000 years.

Story here

This should keep them digging for another 30 years.

 

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Pretty amazing lump of coins right!!! I read about this a couple days ago on the BBC web site.

Check out the short video of the dig with the BBC article, here:

Jersey pair in 30-year search for Iron Age coin from bbc.co.uk [26 June 2012]

 

This has higher res images, even of the denarii. Looks like there is even a Claudius in there right in the middle, could be trajan though.

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/17746

 

Great link! Thanks Mat. I enjoyed that.

 

Here is the Huffington Post link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...grid10|htmlws-sb-bb|dl2|sec1_lnk1&pLid=173762

I sent the link to a brother in-law in England this morning. He likes to dig and typically has more interest in artifacts than coins.

 

there is already a thread open about this subject.................

 

Wouldn't be the first time that has happened on CT... So why not link to the other story so they are cross-referenced.

 

I really hate when this stuff happens.:heated:

(sorry....just jealousy rearing it's ugly head.)

 

Seems to me they have more than their "fair share" of ancient coins!

 

Maybe we could lobby some politicians to put a cap on the number of denarii anybody is allowed to own and "redistribute" some of those coins to us needy collectors

 

Reg Meade has done so much on the Island of Jersey to promote the correct use of metal detecting and of the correct reporting proceadure of coins and artifacts. I lived on the Island for 10 years or so, and he helped do the corresspondance when I found the largest bronze age hoard ever found in Jersey. The possibility of any of them coins leaving the Island are very remote as Jersey dont entertain Export licences, I know that. I dont really think £10million is what they will get, that is the media hype. I am so happy for him and Richard because he knew somewhere down in the ground there was a hoard. I hope they do get the treasure reward for all the years they have put into the hobby. Whats sad is they probably wont display all the coins and the majority of them wont see the light of day again, and I think they should be purchased by collectors rather than hidden away in a vault.