2016-05-27 Fri

A lucky 24-year-old builder found a 1,200 year-old Anglo-Saxon penny from the reign of the Mercian King Offa, when he decided to search a field near Stockbridge, U.S, using a metal detector. He is going to get married in July and is extremely excited about the find which could fetch him £5,000 when it will be auctioned in London on 8th June. The man has been metal detecting since he was 13 years old and believes that the money he gets from the auction will pay off his bills for the wedding and also his honeymoon.

The coins estimate value is £10,000 which will be shared by the landowner and the man. The penny was made by the East Anglian moneyer Botred, and only two more such coins exist of this type. The other coin is in the collection of the British Museum which collectors can never own. This particular coin is slightly bent but is in much better condition than the British Museum’s example. Experts state that it is very astonishing to find a coin in such good condition in a field, just a few minutes after he started detecting the field.