Buckinghamshire man inspired by Detectorists finds £63k coin haul
A treasure hunter inspired by the BBC comedy Detectorists found a valuable Civil War coin haul just two months after taking up the hobby.The hoard of 16th Century and 17th Century silver coins, which were discovered near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, fetched £63,000 at auction in Essex on Thursday.Steve Hickman searched farmland in March 2023 and could not believe his luck when he found the haul. He added: "It's a ridiculous story. I was detecting in a field with power cables above when I got this really puzzling signal."I looked up, thinking it was going to be those cables, but decided to dig because when you're starting out, you need to try everything to learn the good from the bad."
After digging about 9 inches to "pinpointer depth", he got no signal, so he filled the hole in and carried on around the field.But he had second thoughts and returned to the spot."Water was coming through the hole and I saw these grey slots poking out through the water," he recalled"Then I saw the edges of an orange pot- I sat back and felt disbelief."He later found the orange pot housed no fewer than 1,064 silver coins dating back to the reign of Elizabeth I.The latest coins were minted in the autumn of 1642, the beginning of the English Civil War and just prior to the Battle of Aylesbury, which took place a few miles away at Holman's Bridge.
Amongst the coins were 409 silver shillings, including rare coins struck locally in Oxford.There were also very rare issues from the Aberystwyth mint in Wales.The coins were all recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and Mr Hickman said the proceeds of the auction would be shared with the owner of the farm."I'd got written permission from the landowner, and everything over a £100 value gets split 50/50," he explained.
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