A band of metal detectorists who stumbled upon a huge hoard of over 150 Roman coins are set to make £40,000. The trio of friends were on a camping trip near Pewsey, Wiltshire, when they uncovered the buried treasure just 6ft from where they pitched their tent.
At first finder Robert Abbot, 53, thought he had just found a handful of old metal tent pegs after his machine activated. But hidden further down was a silver Roman Siliqua coin. He carried on searching and his detector went into a frenzy.
Companions, Dave Allen, 59, and Mick Rae, 63, joined up and frantically dug up dozens of the coins By the end of the weekend they had uncovered 161 silver coins, all around 1,600 years old, which they carried home in their washing up bowl. The coins, which date from 340 to 602 AD are thought to have been buried as Anglo-Saxon invaders overran Britain in the ailing days of the Roman empire.
