A metal detectorist is celebrating today after a rare example of England's 'first ever gold coin' he discovered in a field sold for a world record £648,000.
Michael Leigh-Mallory, 52, was left in shock at the result of the auction of the King Henry III penny that was struck in about 1257.
The coin, which is just under an inch in diameter, was unearthed on farmland in Hemyock, Devon, last September.
Mr Leigh-Mallory was on his first metal detecting outing in 10 years at the time and was inspired to take up the hobby again by his two history-loving chidlren.
He was completely unaware of the coin's incredible rarity until he posted a picture of it on Facebook and it was spotted by a specialist at Spink auctioneers, London.
The Henry III penny has been said by numismatists to show the first 'true' portrait of an English King upon his throne since the time of William the Conqueror.
It was struck by William of Gloucester with gold imported from North Africa.
There are just eight of the coins known to exist, with almost all of them in museums.
It achieved a hammer price of £540,000, with extra fees taking the final figure paid by a private British buyer in the room to £648,000.
Mr Leigh-Mallory, a retired ecologist, will split the proceeds 50/50 with the landowner.
He said it will go towards the future education of his son and daughter who are both passionate about history .
The winning bidder, a UK collector, said he was fascinated by the story behind the coin and intends to loan it to a museum or institution.
It is a world record for a Henry III coin and also the most valuable Medieval English coin ever sold at auction.
Michael, from Cullompton, dedicated his magnificent discovery to his history-mad children Harry, 16, and 13-year-old Emily, who wants to study archaeology at university.
He visited London today to 'say thank you' to Henry III at his tomb in Westminster Abbey.
He said: "It is quite surreal really. I'm just a normal guy who lives in Devon with his family so this really is a life-changing sum of money which will go towards their futures.
"But its not all about the money - for me its about the history. I'm very passionate about British history. Its an honour to be connected to this find and I will remember this day for the rest of my life.
"I have just been to Westminster Abbey to say thank you to Henry - if he had never have minted this coin then I would never have found it.
"I am so pleased that the coin will stay in the UK because the collector is loaning it to a museum.
"My children, Emily and Harry, are very much a part of this story. I used to be a keen metal detectorist but once I had a family the detector ended up getting buried in a cupboard.
"One day my wife said to me, 'you realise you promised you'd take the kids metal detecting.'
"So, I said, 'right kids - we're going detecting'. We found an Elizabethan coin which they were so excited by. It really ignited my passion so I invested in a new detector.
"The day after it arrived I went out into this field it was a bright, sunny day and within 15 minutes I found the coin. I knew it was gold but I had no idea how important it was.
"Both of my kids are very passionate about history. Emily has joined a local archaeology society and may study it at university so the money could go towards that.
"I am humbled and honoured to be linked with the discovery and subsequent history afforded to us by the staggering research undertaken by Spink and the wider academic community about this coin.
"The money will be put towards my children's future who are both showing the same passion for our history as me.
"In fact, I really owe it to them for having found the coin in the first place, as they were my inspiration to go out prospecting.
"Had it not been for a promise I made to my children to go out searching and being rewarded with an Elizabethan coin a few weeks before, I do not believe this gold coin would ever have been found.
"The fine margin between discovery and loss makes this result all the more remarkable."
The coin, which is 21mm in diameter, displays the portrait of the bearded and crowned Henry III upon his throne on the Great Pavement in Westminster Abbey.
There is a long cross, roses and pellets on the reverse.
Some 52,000 of the coins were minted at twice the weight of a silver penny and valued at 20 pence, which equates to £60 in today's money.
But it became apparent that they were financially unviable because the value of the coin was worth less than its weight in gold.
As a result virtually all of them were melted down after they fell out of circulation following Henry III's death.
The other surviving examples are in the British Museum in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and private collections.
The one discovered by Mr Leigh-Mallory is thought to have belonged to John de Hyden, a former lord of Hemyock Manor.
Six months before the coin was introduced, Lord de Hyden paid 120 grams of gold directly to the king to avoid jury services and public office.
He later served on the retinue of the Earls of Devon during the conquest of Wales when over 37,000 of the gold coins were distributed
Gregory Edmund, specialist at Spink & Son, said: "Not only does this now stand as the most valuable single coin find in British history, but also the most valuable Medieval English coin ever sold at auction.
"Unsurprisingly therefore it eclipsed our old house record to fall for an incredible £540,000 (£648,000 including costs) to a private room buyer.
"It was bought by an anonymous private collector in the United Kingdom who intends to place the coin on loan to a public institution or museum.
"Michael is incredibly humble. For him its less about the half a million pound and more about uncovering the history itself.
"It was Michael's son and daughter who inspired him to get out into the field again.
"They're both at the age where they love studying history at primary school so he decided to go out and search for it.
"Now the money will go towards their future - his daughter hopes to study ecology.
"The sale itself was very unusual because the buyer was there to bid in person. He loved that this fascinating story had unraveled from a chance discovery by a metal detector.
"Michael loved meeting him and seeing where the money was coming from."
Henry III was king of England from 1216 until his death in 1272.
In the 1240s and 50s he demanded that all payments be made in gold to build up treasures for major overseas projects.
It was the first time that the economy had not relied on silver coins since the dark ages.
Following Henry's death, his coins were smelted and replaced with correctly weighed pennies in 1257.
Mr Edmund said of the coin's origins and significance: "As an economic experiment, Henry's gold penny has long been regarded as the abject failure of a weakened and even bankrupt king.
"This would however completely disregard the context of the coinage in British history.
"Not only was the advent of a brand new gold coinage seismic in the domestic medieval landscape, but also shows the direct influence on daily life of the international trade routes from the gold and spice rich Middle East and North Africa.
"Artistically it shows a groundbreaking shift from the depictions of a king restrained by the stipulations of Magna Carta, to his own personification as England’s original patron Saint Edward the Confessor.
"It is no coincidence that a King who idolised the Confessor and actively restored his famous Abbey at Westminster would wish to be seen in the same high regard.
"Most significantly the coin depicts the enthroned king sitting atop a cross-hatched pavement, conceivably a very early allusion to the world-famous Cosmati Great Pavement at Westminster Abbey conceived in 1259 and laid in 1268.
"In essence this coin depicts an enthroned king at the seat of all royal coronations for the first time since William the Conqueror."
