Treasure unexpectedly discovered by a Brit in a field has sold for £33,200.
Tom Licence discovered the hoard, which included 16 full gold Iron Age staters and one quarter-stater, in Bury St Edmunds.
The 46-year-old’s find is the largest set of gold coins from the Iron Age reign of King Dubnovellaunos, who ruled the Trinovantes between 25BC – 10AD.
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The professor of Medieval History and Literature at the University of East Anglia reported the coin, found in two parcels, to the Finds Liaison Officer, and it was declared treasure.
Tom even returned to the site in Suffolk a few months later and found one more stater.
He feels they could have been buried by one of his ancestors, as reported by What’s The Jam.
“The reason I went to this new field was that my niece was keen to go metal detecting, so I wanted to find a suitable location to take her,” said Tom ahead of the sale.
“I noticed that the field rose from a nearby stream in a gentle gradient and had dark silty soil, which was in a perfect condition on a dry October day, so I decided to use my trusty metal detector.
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“Later that afternoon, I started to get signals and found two pieces of Viking hack silver.
“I continued searching and was astounded to find a gold stater and after changing the settings and going up and down rows that I had marked out, I went into hunting mode and found another six staters.
“When it got to sunset, I called the landowner and took the coins to show him and his wife.
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“Later that week, I returned to the field and found more coins – making a total of 17 coins.
“I was born in Essex, but my family has roots in the Bury St Edmunds area and I like to imagine that the coins were buried by one of my ancestors.”
They were sold at Noonans Mayfair on Wednesday, (4 Mar).
Highlights of the sale included an Addedomaros wheel stater that fetched a hammer price of £4,600.
A gold stater from Dubnovellaunos sold for £3,400.
Both coins were bought by the same collector in the USA.
A collector in Switzerland bought another Addedomaros gold stater also for a hammer price of £3,400.
Following the sale, Tom said: “It was an honour to see expert collectors taking these coins into their care.
“So much of the research on ancient coins is done by the collecting community, all around the world.
“Without their contribution, we would know very little.
“With the share which the landowner is generously granting me, I will be supporting archaeological work in Suffolk.”
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