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Treasure hunter finds huge silver coin hoard two months after being inspired by BBC comedy Detectorists to take up hobby
A treasure hunter who was inspired by BBC comedy Detectorists to take up the hobby found a £50,000 silver coin hoard just two months later.
Steve Hickman, 59, bought a second hand metal detector from eBay after watching the hit TV show starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones.
He secured a 'permission' to search farmland near his home in Buckinghamshire, even though he was told nothing of significance had been found there for over a century.
On a wet day in February 2023 he got a strong signal on his device and dug down to unearth a pottery vessel filled with silver coins.
In total, there were 1,064 coins spanning the reigns of Elizabeth I in the 1560s to Charles I in the 1640s.
The latest coins had been minted a few months before the Battle of Aylesbury during the English Civil War in November 1642.
The battle, at Holman's Bridge, saw the heavily outnumbered Parliamentarian forces defeat Prince Rupert's Royalists.
The vessel may have been a wage pot to pay soldiers who fought in the battle, or the life savings of a wealthy individual who had planned to flee.
Mr Hickman, a joiner from Princes Risborough, Bucks, carefully recovered them all and took them home to lay out on his dining room table before contacting the Finds Liaison Officer to report his historic find.
He is now selling the hoard, which includes 409 Charles I silver shillings and rare Aberystwyth mint issues, at Essex Coin Auctions.
He said he wanted to personally thank Mackenzie Crook, who created Detectorists, for helping him discover the pastime.
The father-of-two said: 'It was complete beginner's luck and I had only been detecting for two and a half months.
'I must credit MacKenzie Crook as it was his series Detectorists that got me interested in the first place.
'Without it, I would not have started.
'It inspired me to go to my local detecting club and the people I met were just like the characters on the show, with the same banter.
'It was brilliant and I decided to buy a second-hand metal detector on eBay.
'I was searching the farm land and the landowner said his family had owned it since 1920 and nothing significant had ever been found!
'I suddenly got a really strong signal and dug down 9ins but there was nothing there, so I covered the hole up.
'I thought perhaps the para-cables were messing with the detector.
'But after 20 minutes I decided to have another try and dug the hole again, and at a foot down I saw silver and reached down to pick up a fistful of silver coins.
'One of them had Elizabeth I's face on it and I got more and more excited.
'It took 15 handfuls to fill the bag with coins which weighed 8kg.
'I took the coins home and laid them all out on my dining room table.
'For me, the monetary value is immaterial, as it is all about having that personal connection with the English Civil War.
'I crouched down at exactly the same spot as the person who buried that wage pot nearly 400 years ago.'
Auctioneer Adam Staples said: 'This exciting Civil War hoard was uncovered near Aylesbury and consists of 1,064 silver coins hidden within a now broken pottery vessel.
'The earliest coins in the hoard date to the reign of Elizabeth I, and James I is represented by his English, Irish and Scottish issues.
'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 coinage of Charles I are 409 silver shillings, including rare coins struck locally at Oxford, on which King Charles declared to uphold the Protestant Religion, the Laws of England, and the Liberty of Parliament.
'There are also very rare issues from the Aberystwyth mint.
'It is a wonderful discovery.'
The sale takes place on June 12.
