A buried hoard of some 600 medieval coins estimated to be worth in the region of £150,000 has been found by amateur detectorists.
A team of seven enthusiasts found the coins – including 12 rare golden nobles from the reign of Edward III – on the Culden Faw Estate, south-west Buckinghamshire, in April 2019.
The find – which has been nicknamed the "Hambleden Hoard" – represent the biggest collection of buried gold and silver found in the UK for around a decade.
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The detectorists – more used to digging up shotgun shells and thimbles than buried treasure – were astonished as they unearthed coin after coin from the hidden ancient hoard.
Over four days they excavated 627 coins – including 12 ultra-rare full gold nobles dating from the time of the Black Death.
The team – Andrew Winter, Dom Rapley, Eryk Wierucki, Jaroslaw Giedyna, Dariusz Fijalkowski and brothers Tobiasz and Mateusz Nowak – even slept in a tent at the dig site until they knew they had recovered the entire hoard to deter thieves.
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.
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Under the rules of detecting and treasure finding, anything over three coins is considered a 'hoard' – meaning it has to be declared to organisers.
Dariusz Fijalkowski, a dad-of-three and machine operator from Bristol, came across the hoard after he had been "delighted" with a thimble he'd found.
He then found two silver coins before teaming up with the other men and added: "Special for me was two silver coins.
"Before that," he said, "apart from the thimble it had been shotgun shells.
"When I found the coins I was shouting so much because I was so excited.
"Maybe I should have stayed quiet but I was so happy. For me those coins alone were special. They are small pieces of silver and also a piece of history.
"But to see what we found in the end. I still can't believe it.
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