A hoard of over 600 medieval coins found by amateur detectorists has been declared treasure after it was valued at around £150,000.
Seven men more used to digging up shotgun shells and thimbles unearthed the “Hambleden Hoard” on a Buckinghamshire estate four years ago.
The 627 coins include 12 rare gold nobles from the reign of Edward III, classed as “extremely rare” by the British Museum.
The gold and silver collection is the biggest to be found in the UK for a decade.
An inquest at Beaconsfield coroners court has now classed it as treasure.
A report by Dr Barrie Cook, a curator at the British Museum, found the 12 gold nobles date from 1346 to 1351 — with only 12 known examples found in a 1963 survey.
The rest of the hoard — 547 silver pennies from the reigns of Edward I and II, 21 Irish pennies, 20 continental coins and 27 Scottish pennies from the reign of Alexander III, John Balliol and Robert the Bruce — were more common.
The museum will now negotiate a settlement with the finders and landowners.
The hoard was found at an organised rally near the village of Hambleden by Andrew Winter, Dom Rapley, Eryk Wierucki, Jaroslaw Giedyna, Dariusz Fijalkowski and brothers Tobiasz and Mateusz Nowak. They slept in a tent to stop thieves at Culden Faw Estate.
Rules of detecting state that anything consisting of over three coins is classed as a hoard and must be declared to organisers.
Dariusz, 47, of Bristol said yesterday that he would use any proceeds of the find to treat his family.
He said: “I am happy it has been declared as treasure. It has taken such a long time to hear this. Maybe some day we will find out how it ended up there.”
The coins would be worth about £6 in today’s money.
Dariusz Fijalkowski, a machine operator from Bristol, said: “When I found the coins I was shouting so much because I was so excited. To see what we found, I still can’t believe it.”
