HAMBLEDEN HOARD DECLARED TREASURE

 

A group of amateur detectorists are celebrating after their unlikely find of 600 medieval coins was declared treasure.

The haul – believed to be the biggest found in decade – is worth £150,000.

Their finds – nicknamed the ‘Hambleden Hoard' – including 12 rare gold nobles from the reign of Edward III.

At an inquest last week at Beaconsfield Coroners Court, senior coroner Crispin Butler said the hoard met the criteria for treasure after reading a report by Dr Barrie Cook, a curator at the British Museum.

They heard how the men – more used to digging up shotgun shells and thimbles than treasure – had been astonished to find coin after coin from the hidden ancient hoard.

Over four days they excavated 627 coins – including the 12 ‘extremely rare' full gold nobles from the time of the Black Death.

The rest of the hoard – 547 silver pennies from the reigns of Edward I and II, 21 Irish pennies, 20 continental coins and 27 Scottish pennies from the reign of Alexander III, John Balliol, and Robert the Bruce – were more commonly found.

It will now be left for the museum to negotiate a settlement with the finders and landowners, none of whom was present at the hearing.

The face value of the coins would be a little over £6 in today's money but the estimates of their worth range as high as £150,000.

The find was made at an organised rally which was held on a field near Hambleden, a village recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

On the first day they found 276 silver coins and nine gold nobles, and all admit they barely slept due to excitement.

Over three days the team's hoard grew to 545 silver coins plus fragments, and 12 gold nobles.

To read the complete article, see:
Medieval coin haul worth £150,000 unearthed by amateurs is declared treasure (https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/02/medieval-coin-haul-worth-150000-unearthed-by-amateurs-is-declared-treasure-18209613/)

 

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