A treasure hunter has struck it rich after digging up a 500-year-old gold coin that could be worth more than £4,000 ($5,200), but refuses to part with his rare find.
Gareth Millward unearthed the coin in a field near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and says it is the highlight of his four-year hobby.
The 35-year-old says he had a hunch the piece of land he was inspecting was about to come up trumps as he headed out on the hottest day of the year last summer.
He had been scanning the area for six weeks and his friends had found rare sovereign coins – but his gold find was something a metal detectorist dreams of digging up.
A treasure hunter has struck it rich after digging up a 500-year-old gold coin that could be worth more than £4,000 ($5,200)
Experts say the artefact, which has now been logged by Derby Museum, could fetch between £2,000 and £4,000 ($2,600 and $5,2000) at auction and Mr Millward’s example is in the best possible condition, which means it could be worth more.
The hammered gold coin would have been used during the Tudor era and features an ancient ship with the Royal Arms on its sail.
Inscribed around the coin, in Latin, a passage reads: ‘By the cross save us, Oh Christ our Redeemer.’
About the find, he said: ‘After only 20 minutes in the field I got a deep, iffy signal with my metal detector.
‘I dug down around six inches of rock hard pasture, the signal was still in the bottom of the hole so took another two inches out expecting it to be deep lead.
‘As the bone dry dirt hit the ground next to the hole it crumbled to pieces revealing a flash of gold.
‘I knew instantly what it was, I picked it up and looked at it in amazement. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.
‘A solid 68 on the surface – I had unearthed a Henry VII full gold Angel, 1485-1509.’
The hammered gold coin would have been used during the Tudor era and features an ancient ship with the Royal Arms on its sail
Gareth Millward, 35 (pictured), unearthed the rare find on the hottest day of the year last summer
Mr Millward, of Middleton-by-Wirksworth, Derbyshire, described his excitement when he pulled the coin from the earth.
He added: ‘I shouted out loud “Oh my God, gold hammered! Gold hammered!”
‘I sat there for near on an hour in absolute disbelief trying to comprehend what had just happened.
‘This was only my fifth-ever hammered coin find. I spent a further two hours in that field and found almost nothing.
‘I asked myself how on earth did I walk straight on to this coin.
‘I must have been the luckiest man in metal-detecting on that day.’
The coin has been shown to the owner of the land Mr Millward was detecting in and the landowner let him keep it.
Mr Millward said: ‘He and his family were stunned. He said his father would have loved to see it but he had unfortunately passed away only a few week earlier.
‘We spoke for a while, he appreciated my honesty and said that the coin was mine to keep and also granted me permission to search the rest of his land.
‘This beautiful piece of history had been lost many centuries ago, laying undisturbed and dormant until I came plodding along with my detector.
‘I believe it was my destiny to find that coin on that day, but also the reward for my dedication and hard work in this great hobby.
‘My mind wanders at the story behind this coin, how it got there, who dropped it and what the landscape was like back then.
‘It fascinates me as well as frustrates me, knowing I’ll never quite know the truth.
‘But what I do know is this was the best day of my life.’
The rare coin, which has the passage ‘By the cross save us, Oh Christ our Redeemer’ inscribed in Latin around its rim, was unearthed in a field near Ashbourne, Derbyshire