Treasure hunters have set a record for the largest coin hoard discovered in the British Isles after unearthing 69,347 Roman and Celtic coins that were buried three feet beneath a hedge in Jersey, Channel Isles.
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Britain's largest coin hoard of gold and silver pieces was found under a hedge on Jersey in the Channel Islands [Credit: David Ferguson] |
Their find - made in 2012 - trumps the previous record holding discovery of 54,951 Iron Age coins unearthed in Wiltshire in 1978.
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The coins were found by metal detectorists encased in clay. It is believed that they were hidden in the field around 50BC [Credit: Jersey Heritage] |
'We are not surprised at this achievement and are delighted that such an impressive archaeological item was discovered, examined and displayed in Jersey,' said curator of archaeology at Jersey Heritage Olga Finch.
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The coins were carefully extracted after they were detected three feet beneath a hedge [Credit: Jersey Heritage] |
Mr Miles said he and Mr Mead had been involved in the process the whole way through and described receiving the Guinness World Record certificates as 'lovely'.
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Conservator for the Jersey Heritage Museum Neil Mahrer begins to carefully dig the silver and gold treasures out of the clay [Credit: Jersey Heritage] |
They were declared a 'treasure' under the Treasure Act 1996, which means they officially belong to the Queen, although the finders are entitled to a reward.
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Detectorists Reg Mead and Richard Miles found the coins sealed inside a slab of clay in 2012 [Credit: SWNS.com] |
However, there has been discussion over whether the price would come down because so many coins had been found, reducing their rarity.
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Some of the coins after cleaning [Credit: Jersey Heritage] |
The largest hoard of coins ever found in the world was in Brussels in 1908 with 150,000 silver medieval pennies from the 13th Century uncovered.
Author: Luke Andrews | Source: Daily Mail [February 02, 2020]
* This article was originally published here
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