Expert ‘treasure hunter’ left £15,000 RICHER after uncovering hoard of age-old loot in a field – and dig only got better
A DREAM find for one treasure hunter has seen him come away thousands of pounds richer after flogging the Roman loot.
The metal detectorist, who has not been named, discovered buried ancient Roman coins in a Norfolk field in 2020 in a once-in-a-lifetime find.
He has now sold the first 73 coins in his find at auction for £15,285, after he discovered 432 of the ancient coins.
One of the coins sold for £3,400 alone as it was issued by a famous emperor.
He stumbled upon the silver coins in a field in Colkirk, Norfolk, in February 2020.
The man found 40 coins and then returned the next day and found 40 more.
Incredibly, he was then prevented from going back to dig more due to the Covid lockdown in March 2020.
But, when he returned a few months later he was able to find 300 more in the field.
It is likely that the silver coins belonged to a wealthy Roman family living in Britain in the early 400s, reports say.
They would probably have fled inland at very short notice to escape the Saxon invasion from across the North Sea and left the coins behind.
The coins lay about 15 inches below the surface for the next 1,600 years likely only being disturbed by a farmer’s plough.
The most valuable coin was a silver Third Miliarensis issued by Emperor Theodosius in 380AD which sold for £3,400 alone.
The remainder will be sold in a second sale next year and are estimated to sell for a combined £10,000.
The metal detectorist who found the coins will have to split his profits 50-50 with the landowner.
Nigel Mills, coin and artifact specialist at Noonans, said: “The hoard had in fact spread out over a third of an acre through disturbance by ploughing and has been recorded under the Treasure Act and returned to the finder after being disclaimed.
“The hoard is likely to have been deposited at the beginning of the 5th century AD with the latest coin of Honorius dating no later than 402AD.
“A hoard of 432 coins is quite a lot. They probably belonged to a wealthy Roman family with links to the military.
“There were no banks back then and so people had to bury money in the ground.
“The family probably had to flee inland to escape the invading Saxons and couldn’t go back to recover it.
“Other Roman treasure finds of gold and silver also from East Anglia such as the Hoxne and Thetford hoards reflect the wealth and importance of the area.”