[kellyhound]

A metal detecting enthusiast from Redditch has uncovered Worcestershire's largest ever archaeological hoard.

Jethro Carpenter found almost 4,000 Roman coins at Bredon Hill near Evesham - a major significance not only for the county but also the country.

Mr Carpenter, 43, was walking with friend Mark Gilmore when their metal detectors registered 'overload'.

For 2 hours the pair excavated the area by hand, unearthing coin after coin before alerting the relevant authorities to the amazing find.

Mr Carpenter said: "As a child you watch pirate films and dream of finding buried treasure but the truth is that as a metal detector enthusiast you can hunt for months on end and find nothing so much as a dropped penny.

“I've known the Bredon Hill area for more than 20 years and taken my detector there countless times so never in a million years did I expect to come across such a find.

“On the day of the discovery, my detector was down for no more than five minutes when it started to make a high-pitched noise, indicating a lot of buried metal below foot.

“It was so exciting, my heart was racing as they just kept on appearing and I could see the head of an emperor visible indicating they were Roman.”

What they actually found was 3,784 coins depicting a total of 16 different Roman Emperors.

Since the discovery, which took place in June, experts from Worcestershire County Council Historic Environment and Archaeology Service have undertaken an assessment of the site and uncovered evidence of a Roman settlement.

Mr Carpenter added: "This find is of major significance not only for Worcestershire but also nationally and I am so proud to have been involved with this important discovery."

The majority of the coins are currently with the British Museum for conservation and research.

However, a selection will be showcased at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum until November 26.

[Faline]

How cool, wonder what they're worth

[Brometheus]

so..... how much did they make for the coins?

[LadyPox]

I always wanted a metal detector but didn't want to look like one of those nerds who are always scanning for stuff. They do find some valuable goodies sometimes! Wonder how the coins got there?

[collaredgirl65]

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by Brometheus ↗

so..... how much did they make for the coins?

Each anient roman coin, due to the way they were minted, is an unique piece, so two copies of the same type may have two different values: assuming that you are the owner of the coin, and that a coin is in good conditions (everything must be readable, edges must be intact, the flat ones can be trashed at the sight etcetera) , the very least for each coin is about 10€ (for the bronze ones) up to several tenths of thousands, for those made in silver / gold. From the total you need to subtract the price to pay for cleansing, which can be done and certified only by professionals, hence relatively expensive: once you have the coins cleaned and certified, then you can start trying to sell them: by yourself or through reseller. Resellers may ask high percentages (up to 40% here in Italy), but they warrant you that the coin will be sold for its RIGHT price, and usually they are able to sell them quickly. Otherwise, many catalogues are available (even online): the most reliable ones are the catalogs of auction sites. And it's always better to don't sell the unique pieces first, but only those of which you own more than a copy (unless the offer is worthy).
In a case like this one, since a museum is involved, it's likely that after evaluating carefully the value, the man will get a percentage. In Italy, as in many other countries, you must prove to either be the owner of the land where they were found, or to be legitimate to be there: from the moment of the retrieval, the Country is the owner of any archeological good, and if you were digging for some reason and stumbled upon something like that, the best thing to do is to STOP digging immediately, especially because what you could do in damage may amount to much more than you might earn from the retrieval. It's not surprising that they were found there, since ancient romans controlled an area including that one for about 350 years, it's part of the then Roman Britain, but it's definitely a great discovery since the man is an amateur, and since thanks to his perseverance, it has been uncovered evidence of a Roman settlement.

[Wolf]

Nice find. Hopes he gets all the credit he deserves for the find and hopefully a little financial compensation.

[Steve]

I used to do a bit of metal detecting as a kid, I found nothing of consequence and went into fishing which I did for many years it's much more satisfying.

[Sharon]

What a result