Post by Marc on Mar 2, 2014 11:03:14 GMT -5
source: ( www.express.co.uk/)
By: Dean Herbert
Published: Wed, February 5, 2014
A PAIR of treasure hunters unearthed a priceless hoard of medieval silver coins after spending five hours searching in a rain-drenched field.
Derek McLennan and Gus Paterson dug up a total of 322 coins in a field near Kirkcudbright shortly before Christmas after a search with metal detectors.
The find is believed to be the largest collection of medieval coins ever to be discovered in Scotland.
The men are part of a small group of metal detector enthusiasts called the Ayrshire Division.
They had pinpointed the field at Twynholm in Kirkcudbrightshire as a prime location for finding coins.
Mr McLennan said: “We’d done quite a lot of research and targeted that particular area. We’d searched several fields around it before we stumbled across it – a little bit of luck.
“We’d been searching for about five hours in atrocious weather, with the horizontal rain and 60mph gales and we were both feeling rather scunnered in the last field before we were heading for the car.
“I went one direction and Gus went the other. Gus was lucky enough to hit the first two coins. There was jubilation all round as I’m sure you can imagine.
“Although it’s a hobby we are serious about it so we immediately recognised medieval hammered coins.”
The hoard includes 10 out of the 13 mints of Edward I, II and III, seven King Alexander III of Scotland pennies and a rare English or Irish mule penny from the reign of Edward I.
Mr McLennan said the find has been declared to Scotland’s Treasure Trove Unit, as the law dictates that chance discoveries must be handed over to the Crown.
The men may be entitled to an ex-gratia payment for the coins, as officials are duty bound to “take into account the circumstances of discovery, the treatment of the object by the finder and the nature of the items”.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY.
By: Dean Herbert
Published: Wed, February 5, 2014
A PAIR of treasure hunters unearthed a priceless hoard of medieval silver coins after spending five hours searching in a rain-drenched field.
Derek McLennan and Gus Paterson dug up a total of 322 coins in a field near Kirkcudbright shortly before Christmas after a search with metal detectors.
The find is believed to be the largest collection of medieval coins ever to be discovered in Scotland.
The men are part of a small group of metal detector enthusiasts called the Ayrshire Division.
They had pinpointed the field at Twynholm in Kirkcudbrightshire as a prime location for finding coins.
Mr McLennan said: “We’d done quite a lot of research and targeted that particular area. We’d searched several fields around it before we stumbled across it – a little bit of luck.
“We’d been searching for about five hours in atrocious weather, with the horizontal rain and 60mph gales and we were both feeling rather scunnered in the last field before we were heading for the car.
“I went one direction and Gus went the other. Gus was lucky enough to hit the first two coins. There was jubilation all round as I’m sure you can imagine.
“Although it’s a hobby we are serious about it so we immediately recognised medieval hammered coins.”
The hoard includes 10 out of the 13 mints of Edward I, II and III, seven King Alexander III of Scotland pennies and a rare English or Irish mule penny from the reign of Edward I.
Mr McLennan said the find has been declared to Scotland’s Treasure Trove Unit, as the law dictates that chance discoveries must be handed over to the Crown.
The men may be entitled to an ex-gratia payment for the coins, as officials are duty bound to “take into account the circumstances of discovery, the treatment of the object by the finder and the nature of the items”.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY.