Three treasure hunters are quids in after finding a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins that could be worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Philip Sutor, Paul Nash and Kevin Davis unearthed the coins – over 1,170 years old – at a metal detecting event.
Philip, who had only been detecting for 18 months, found the first silver coin but was not sure what it was and so moved on from the area.
Shortly afterwards, Paul started picking up more coins in the same spot near Bidford-on-Avon, Warks, finding four in the space of an hour.
Kevin, a more experienced detectorist, was called to examine the finds and realised that they were Anglo-Saxon.
The area was cordoned off and the three men, all Midlanders, continued the search for two days, finding another 20 coins. In total, they uncovered 25, all depicting King Burgred of Mercia. They could be worth more than £25,000.
Burgred ruled over the Midlands around 852AD, before being driven out by the Vikings and fleeing to Rome.
It is thought the field where the coins were found was the site of an early medieval settlement.
The cache was declared to the local finds liaison officer and a coroner will later determine whether it is treasure.
If so, a museum will be given the chance to buy the coins.
If the hoard is not deemed to be treasure it will be returned to the finders.
Simon Hall, of search organisers Go Detecting, said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, truly amazing.
“Even finding one coin from 850AD would have been so special.”
