Detectorists discover the largest hoard of medieval gold and silver coins in 10 years

Over 600 silver and gold coins dating from the 14th century were discovered at a group detector event in Buckinghamshire three years ago in April. Experts say it is an exceptional find with extremely rare coins. The set was declared a treasure last week and estimated to be worth at least £4 million.

The organised event took place in a field near Hambleden, an ancient village listed in the Domesday Book as early as 1086. Under the rules of the event, any find over three coins is considered "treasure", meaning it must be reported to the organisers. After the first silver coins were reported, the area was cleared by agreement and subsequently searched byby a seven-strong team of finders, who then worked alone on the site, assisted by detectorists who were watching.

A liaison officer was called in to supervise the excavation and carefully plotted the location of each coin. Andrew Winter, Dom Rapley, Eryk Wierucki, Jaroslaw Giedyna, Dariusz Fijalkowski and brothers Tobiasz and Mateusz Nowak excavated 276 silver and nine gold coins on the first day. They all admitted that they could hardly sleep with excitement. Over the course of four days, they found a total of 627 silver and 12 gold coins and kept watch at the field every night.

"Except for the thimble, all I found were the bottoms of shotgun shells. When I dug up the first coins, I screamed a lot because I was so excited," Dariusz Fijalkowski - a machinist from Bristol - recounted the moments of the find. "Maybe I should have stayed quiet, but I was so happy. These coins were special to me. They are small pieces of silver and also a piece of history. I still can't believe it. I came to the rally (detector club event) to relax because I have three young children. But you could say it wasn't a rest. I can still feel the pressure now. It's unbelievable," he said, adding that he is donating all his proceeds to his family's treatment.

"It felt unreal to me. After finding the treasure and cleaning up the area, we had to extend the search twice more because we found so much," added Mateusz Nowak, a fellow hospital cleaner from Newcastle. "It was a moment full of miracles for everyone," he added.

Senior coroner Crispin Butler said after the inquest that the set met the criteria for a treasure, which corresponds with the findings report of Dr. He described the 12 gold coins, dating from 1346 to 1351, as extremely rare. The remaining 547 silver pennies from the reigns of Edward I and II.., 21 Irish pennies, 20 Continental coins and 27 Scottish pennies from the reigns of Alexander III, John I of Scotland and Robert I of Scotland are already among the more common coins. Museums interested in purchasing the set can now apply for them.

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Sources: britishmuseum.org, metr.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk