Tony House stumbled across a single coin, but gut instinct told him to keep digging – and he uncovered a hoard of 570 more pennies.
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The 68-year-old was shocked to find the stash of ‘Tealby Pennies’ – named after Tealby in Lincolnshire – where more than 5,000 similar coins were dug up in 1807.
He was about to give up the search but something told him to keep going- and then he heard the life-changing beep from his metal detector.
Tony, who lives in Chippenham with wife Beverley, 63, said: “It’s wonderful and so fascinating!
”It’s a unique find, and that’s very exciting. I was just 40 seconds from my van when I got the signal.
”It was a hot day and the ground was solid like concrete. One spadeful I dug up had 35 coins in it, and I found 130 in one square metre.
“Just two metres from that was over a hundred in another square metre.”
Tony found the haul during a dig near Chippenham in Wiltshire – but is being savvy about keeping the exact location a secret.
These 865-year-old coins are believed to have been made from 1158 to 1180 during the Plantagenet period.
Experts say the coins are “notorious” for being some of the worst ever produced in this country – badly-made and difficult to read.
They have even been branded “England’s worst ever money” – but they can sell for more than £350 online today.
This means the lucky metal detectorist could bag himself a fortune of up to £200,000.
Tony used to run a fast food business and began detecting about eight years ago after falling on hard times.
The granddad loves to walk the fields with his flask of tea – but never dreamed of discovering treasure such as this.
He said: “It’s very calming to have those headphones on waiting for that signal. Time flies by. It’s so good for your mind.
“I just like getting out and seeing the wildlife.
“I never imagined I’d find something like this. No detectorist ever thinks they will. It’s fantastic!”
The coins in Tony’s hoard apparently date from the reign of King Henry II and feature small crosses on the back as a design.
Tony even said two gold Islamic coins in the hoard – called Denar – may link it to the Crusades.
A fellow metal detectorist, Jon Randle, found a hoard of 400-year-old silver coins – on his second outing.
The aspiring detector had only dug up rusty nails and a butter knife before discovering the fortune.
The loot is thought to have been buried during the Civil War of 1642-51 and contains money from the reigns of Charles I, James I, Elizabeth I and Mary I.
The 27-year-old , of Hinckley, Leics, has reported the find in Coventry as treasure.
Another rookie treasure hunter managed to locate one of the largest ever hauls of pre-Viking gold.
The huge fortune – including gold medallions as big as saucers – lay hidden for 1,500 years until Ole Ginnerup Schytz found it by “pure luck”.
Ole had only been out for a few hours when he heard his gadget beep in a field and unearthed 22 precious gold objects weighing almost 1kg (2.2lbs).
Archaeologists excavated the surrounding site and discovered the treasure was buried under a longhouse by a clan chief in the sixth century
Experts say it is one of the largest and most important such finds in Danish history.
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