Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Metal detectorist get to share £1.35 million

Paul Coleman, a metal detectorist will get to share £1.35 million for a hoard of 5,251 coins dating to Anglo Saxon times that had been wrapped in a lead sheet and buried in a field in Lenborough, Buckinghamshire, in 2014.

Anglo Saxon coin

The Treasure Valuation Committee has now decided the coins are worth £1.35m, and Paul will share the money with the landowner. The Buckinghamshire County Museum is raising money in an effort to buy the coins.

Mr Coleman, who lives in Southampton and is a member of the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club, said he was accepting the valuation and wanted the hoard to go to the Buckinghamshire County Museum.

Paul Coleman

He said: "It's open to wild speculation and it has been suggested to me by some experts that was worth £2-3m.


"It would probably be very difficult to get the value increased anyway and we would rather see the collection go to a museum, rather than separated and sold to collectors around the world."

Paul told the British Museum, "When I saw the first few coins I was really excited because I knew I had found a hoard, however the excitement grew and grew as the size and importance of the find became apparent."

Ros Tyrrell, the FLO who was in charge of the excavation, was spot on when she said "now I know a little of what Egyptologist Howard Carter must have felt, when he first looked into the tomb of Tutankhamen."

The coins, which were found buried and wrapped in a sheet in the village near Buckingham, depict the heads of King Ethelred the Unready (978-1016) and King Canute (1016-35) and came from 40 different mints around England.

The lead had not only kept the coins together, but had protected them, so they are in excellent condition.

Brett Thorn from the museum said, "Our trustees will make a decision as to whether or not we are going to try to raise the money.

"Hopefully we will be able to, as we feel it is important to keep this in Buckinghamshire and keep it available in public hands for future research."

The coins are being looked after by the British Museum.

Source: BBC News