£1.3 million coin hoard discovered by metal detectorist in England

More than 5,000 coins that date as far back as the 11th century have been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Buckinghamshire, England, according to multiple reports including this one by BBC News.

The Daily Mirror reports that experts estimate that each of the silver coins would sell for at least £250, meaning all 5,251 would combine for a value of more than £1.3 million.

The hoard has been taken to the British Museum for identification. BBC News reports they were buried in a lead bucket. The 11th century coins feature portraits of kings Ethelred the Unready and Canute. They date to the late Anglo-Saxon, early Norman period. 

And according to that Daily Mirror report, the Dec. 21 find could not come at a better time for the man who came across the hoard, Paul Coleman.

The 59-year-old Coleman is unemployed. His bank accounts are “all in the red,” the Daily Mirror reports, and he could barely afford the gas to make the trip to the site he found the coins.

He came across the coins during a dig with fellow members of the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club.

Read more about the find and the collector in reports by BBC News, Daily Mirror and Daily Mail.

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