A VALUABLE coin dating back to 50BC found in a field has now sold for an eye-watering £20,000.
Metal detectorist Lewis Fudge was thrilled when he discovered the incredible artefact from the New Iron Age in Hampshire.
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The lucky treasure hunter dug up the coin in a farmer’s field in March this year – after he got permission to detect.
The find has been described by experts as “one of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades”.
Auctioneers said the artefact represents a new chapter in British history as it has unveiled new king.
Spink Auctioneers specialist Gregory Edmund said: “This fabulous piece of prehistoric artwork completes the mental image we have when we think of Iron Age Britain – the war horse and chariot.
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“This is the reason I come to work; to document the discoveries of national importance and share that knowledge directly with museums and amongst academics, collectors and the public at large.”
The gold coin is smaller than a human fingernail and it reads the name Esunertos in Latin, a previously unrecorded Iron Age ruler.
The coin bears the name and it dates to the very beginning of written language appearing in the British Isles.
Mr Edmund added: “To now add a critically important contemporary witness to those seismic events in the birth of our island’s story is electrifying.
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“Esunertos was once forgotten, but now his name looms large in the historic record.”
The incredible treasure was initially expected to fetch around £4,000 – but a shocking bidding war saw the price rise to an eye-watering £20,400.
The coin has reached a new world record after beating the Medusa Quarter-Stater set sold for £10,800.
Lewis said: “I am over the moon, if it were not for people in the auction room I would have jumped around.
“The collectors I spoke to are gobsmacked. I’m so glad I did not take them up on their private offers before the auction.
“To think my find has generated its own Wikipedia page, is incredible.”
According to historians, it was coined between 50 and 30 BC – shortly after Julius Caesar’s first Roman raid of Britain in 55 BC.
Iron Age experts who studied the coin deduced it to be struck by a pre-eminent male figure dubbed “IISVNIRTOS” whose name translates as Mighty as the God Esos.
They believe that he possibly ruled as King from nearby Danebury Hill fort.
Dr John Sills from the Ashmolean Museum said: “It is one of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades in Celtic numismatics.”
It comes as a rare coin collection from nearly 500 years ago was unearthed – and they’re worth an eye-watering sum.
David Cliffton was stunned when he discovered the hoard while out with his metal detector in Worcester.
How do I check if my coin is rare?
Rare coins and valuable notes can be worth tens of thousands of times their face value.
But sometimes it’s just tiny differences which make them so lucrative.
The most valuable coins tend to be ones with low mintage numbers or an error.
Those qualities typically make them valuable to collectors.
For example, “New Pence” 2p coins from 1983 often sell for hundreds of pounds due to a mintage mistake – they stopped being called “New Pence” in 1981.
Meanwhile a 50p Olympic coin, which was released to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics, has a small error where the water passed directly over the swimmers face.
Perhaps the safest way of selling rare coins is to sell them at auction – to do this, contact The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.
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It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.
You’ll need to enquire via email, and a member of the valuation team will contact get back to you.
