An amateur metal detectorist has struck gold – literally – after unearthing a hoard of Iron Age coins worth more than £6,500 at auction.
David McIntyre Haigh discovered five gold staters dating from around 60BC to 20BC, forged by the pre-Roman Corieltauvi tribe, in a field in September 2023.
The coins were later declared treasure, as reported by What’s The Jam.
READ MORE: Bizarre motorbike that looks more like car goes on sale for £7,000
Mr Haigh, who has been metal detecting since 2010, said he had spent over 10 years searching agricultural land in north Nottinghamshire.
In September, he returned to a field in Whitwell, near Worksop, Derbyshire, where he had previously found five gold staters in 2019.
He told reporters: “At first I lost the signal, then using my probe I located a strong signal.
“Hands shaking, I gently wiped the earth off the round disc in my hand and revealed a bright, shining 2,000-year-old superb gold stater with a Celtic horse and pelletal sun design.
“Marking the spot with a marker, I trudged back to my jeep and rested for half an hour.
“I just couldn’t believe it – I’d struck lucky.
“I was even too tired to do the ‘gold dance’ favoured by detectorists whenever they find gold.”
He added he “unbelievably” found a further four gold coins of similar design later that afternoon.
The coins went under the hammer at Noonans auctioneers in Mayfair on Tuesday (16 Sep) and were sold for a total of £6,500.
Alice Cullen, coin specialist at Noonans, said the find was “particularly special and unusual”.
The Corieltauvi were a Celtic tribe living in Britain before the Roman conquest, covering much of what is now the East Midlands.
Their capital was Ratae Corieltauvorum, modern-day Leicester.
READ MORE: OAP has first driving lesson aged 93
