A little over a year ago, a group of metal detectorists found a hoard of 21 coins in a field near Okehamption Castle in Devon, England. The find was just recently brought to light due to laws regarding treasure discovery.
The group of treasure hunters behind the find, the Teignbridge History Finders, is led by Jim Luxton, according to DevonLive.com, who called the find “amazing,” as one of the group’s earliest.
The hoard comprised of 21 ancient coins, which were found over the course of a few weeks by Luxton, Paul May, Neil King, Pete Young and Clive Hammett, the BBC reported. They named their discovery the Okey Hoard, according to the outlet.
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Even though the discovery was made at the end of 2023, the laws of treasure discovery prevented it from immediately being announced.
The age and the composition of the hoard caused it to be classified as a treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996, according to DevonLive.com.
Under the Treasure Act of 1996, finders of treasure must notify the Coroner of the area where the discovery was made, as well as report to the landowner the news of a find.
Luxton told DevonLive.com that just a few coins were found at first, and more were discovered upon further investigation.
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“At first it was three coins. I then got a call to say I had better get over to the area as we had found another eight coins,” Luxton told the outlet.
“A few weeks later, we had a revisit where I found the last coin to make it a staggering 21 coins,” he went on to say.
The coins date back from 1282 A.D. to 1434 A.D., per the source.
While the coins will not bring significant monetary value to the group, they fall more into the category of a historical find, Luxton said, according to the BBC, and he hopes that soon, the group’s finding will be displayed in a museum.
Metal detectorists have been able to count themselves lucky on many occasions throughout history. One of the most historic hoards ever found was discovered in England by a metal detectorist, called the Staffordshire Hoard.
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The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found, according to Birmingham Museum’s website.
It was discovered in 2009, in a field near Lichfield, Staffordshire. The hoard consisted of 4,000 objects and broken fragments, including many war items such as swords and helmets.
The Hoxne Hoard is another one of England’s great archaeological finds.
This particular hoard was found in Hoxne village, Suffolk, by a man originally scanning land with his metal detector in hopes of finding a lost hammer.
Eric Lawes ended up finding something far more significant when scouring land in 1992. He was the finder of the Hoxne Hoard, a collection of over 15,000 Roman gold and silver coins, plus other artifacts like tableware and jewelry.
