Thirty years ago, a farmer found a few Iron Age coins on his property on the island of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy. For the next three decades, a pair of amateur treasure hunters combed the soil with metal detectors in search of more treasure. They found it!
Two amateur treasure hunters have unearthed a mass of celtic coins that are over 2,000 years and old and estimated to be worth a total of $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.
Each Roman or Celtic coin is said to be worth between 100 to 200 British Pounds ($156 to $311), according to Dr. Philip de Jersey, a former Celtic coin expert at Oxford University. He believes the haul is “extremely exciting and very significant.”
After finding the small batch of coins, the two amateur treasure hunters from the island of St. Clement, Jersey off the shores of France were inspired to strengthen their search to try and find the source of the coins.
Conservator Neil Mahrer of the Jersey Heritage Museum says the discovery is the largest of its kind: "This is the biggest Celtic coin hoard ever found which is tremendously exciting."
Earlier this year, Mead and Miles found a much-smaller stash of 61 coins, 60 of them silver. The pair will continue to dig for more.
The States of Jersey must now determine who actually owns the treasure.
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.
Each Roman or Celtic coin is said to be worth between 100 to 200 British Pounds ($156 to $311), according to Dr. Philip de Jersey, a former Celtic coin expert at Oxford University. He believes the haul is “extremely exciting and very significant.”
After finding the small batch of coins, the two amateur treasure hunters from the island of St. Clement, Jersey off the shores of France were inspired to strengthen their search to try and find the source of the coins.
Conservator Neil Mahrer of the Jersey Heritage Museum says the discovery is the largest of its kind: "This is the biggest Celtic coin hoard ever found which is tremendously exciting."
Earlier this year, Mead and Miles found a much-smaller stash of 61 coins, 60 of them silver. The pair will continue to dig for more.
The States of Jersey must now determine who actually owns the treasure.
1 comments:
Finders keepers.
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