Detectorists discover Scotland's largest medieval coin hoard

A huge collection of 700-year-old silver coins has been found in a field near the village of Dunscore in Dumfries using metal detectors. Archaeologists are talking about an absolutely amazing discovery. The hoard is now being catalogued by experts, and is likely to be valued in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Dunscore find of 8,407 silver coins has been recognised by officials as the largest medieval coinage hoard found in Scotland in at least 200 years - and may be the largest ever medieval coin hoard in Scottish history. The 13th- and 14th-century coins are mainly coins struck by Edward I and II, as well as hundreds of silver examples from Britain and continental Europe. Following the initial report of the discovery, the site was investigated by officers from the Treasure Trove Unit along with archaeologists from National Museums Scotland. Each of the coins has now been catalogued.

"They require identifying, photographing, measuring and weighing each individual coin," said a Treasure Trove Unit spokesman. "Dunscore Hoard is one of the largest medieval coin hoards found in Scotland since the 19th century. It contains a mixture of Scottish, English, Irish and Continental silver coins," he added.

With the boom in the hobby in the era of covid lockdowns and the increase in the number of detectorists across the UK over the past few years, 12,263 artefacts have been reported to Treasure Trove units in Scotland so far this year. Around 900 finds were recorded in October alone. This compares to 1,551 artefacts received for the whole of 2019. The backlog of reported items to date exceeds 5,000.

The volume of finds has increased so much over the past few years that Scotland's national 'Treasure Trove Unit' has had to recruit additional staff. Artefacts are now being passed at a rate of over 200 new records per week. This is because in Scotland any artefact thought to be of archaeological significance must by law be reported to the authorities.

The Dunscore hoard was discovered just 30km from Balmaghie, where the so-called 'Galloway Hoard' - the largest collection of Viking artefacts ever found in Britain - was found by detectorist Deren McLennan in 2014. The stunning treasure was bought for nearly £2 million (about 56 million crowns) at the time and has long been the subject of controversy between the landowner (the church) and the finder.

Roman Nemec

Sources: dailymail.co.uk, ustoday.news, express.co.uk

Part of the 2014 Galloway hoard - discovered 30km from the site of the current coin depot

The Galloway hoard has been valued at more than £56 million

The collection consists mainly of coins of Edward I and II.

The hoard is one of many discovered after the surge during the covid lockdowns

The hoard was discovered last year near the village of Dunscore in Dumfriesshire