Looking After Your Finds - Bronze Age Gold
Sucessful - Treasure
Powered By Sispro1
Double click to edit
Metal detectorist stunned after finding rare coin worth £648,000 in Devon
Viking Anglo-Saxon Menu
Copyright © All Rights Reserved by Nigel G Wilcox · · E-Mail: ngwilcox100@gmail.com
Designed by Nigel G Wilcox
Complimentary Topics
The Paragon Of Metal Detecting
& Archaeology
& Archaeology
Courtesy: By ROSIE JEMPSON
10:31, Wed, Jan 26, 2022 | UPDATED: 12:00, Wed, Jan 26, 2022
10:31, Wed, Jan 26, 2022 | UPDATED: 12:00, Wed, Jan 26, 2022
6. Menu
Pages
<<< Successful Finds
Geology Menu >>>
Main Coin Menu
Member NCMD
Main Coin Menu
A metal detectorist who recently returned to the hobby after having given it up when he started a family has unearthed his first ever gold coin - worth a record-breaking £648,000.
Michael Leigh-Mallory, 52, found the Henry III penny buried on farmland in the Devon village of Hemyock.
His lucky find came while on his first metal detecting outing in a decade after his children inspired him to pick the hobby back up to take them out detecting with him.
Not realising the value of the coin, he posted a photo on social media where it was spotted by a specialist at Spink auctioneers in London.
The extremely rare penny is said to depict the first "true" portrait of an English King on the throne since the time of William the Conqueror.
Michael Leigh-Mallory, 52, found the Henry III penny buried on farmland in the Devon village of Hemyock.
His lucky find came while on his first metal detecting outing in a decade after his children inspired him to pick the hobby back up to take them out detecting with him.
Not realising the value of the coin, he posted a photo on social media where it was spotted by a specialist at Spink auctioneers in London.
The extremely rare penny is said to depict the first "true" portrait of an English King on the throne since the time of William the Conqueror.
© Spink & Son/BNPS An image of the coin that was found
The buyer - who paid £648,000 for the rare coin - said he will loan it to a museum or institution. There are only eight of the coins known to exist, most of which are already displayed in museums.
Mr Leigh-Mallory plans to split the proceeds with the landowner of the farm and use the rest to help fund the future of his children's education.
He said: "It is quite surreal really. I'm just a normal guy who lives in Devon with his family so this really is a life-changing sum of money which will go towards their futures.
"Emily and Harry are very much a part of this story. I used to be a keen metal detectorist but once I had a family the detector ended up getting buried in a cupboard.
Mr Leigh-Mallory plans to split the proceeds with the landowner of the farm and use the rest to help fund the future of his children's education.
He said: "It is quite surreal really. I'm just a normal guy who lives in Devon with his family so this really is a life-changing sum of money which will go towards their futures.
"Emily and Harry are very much a part of this story. I used to be a keen metal detectorist but once I had a family the detector ended up getting buried in a cupboard.
© Spink & Son/BNPS The coin Michael found on both sides
"The money will be put towards my children's future who are both showing the same passion for our history as me. In fact, I really owe it to them for having found the coin in the first place, as they were my inspiration to go out prospecting.
"Had it not been for a promise I made to my children to go out searching and being rewarded with an Elizabethan coin a few weeks before, I do not believe this gold coin would ever have been found.
"The fine margin between discovery and loss makes this result all the more remarkable."
Mr Leigh-Mallory plans to continue metal detecting, though he doesn't expect to find anything of such value again.
He said: “But it’s not about money. It’s about finding connections to our past.”
"Had it not been for a promise I made to my children to go out searching and being rewarded with an Elizabethan coin a few weeks before, I do not believe this gold coin would ever have been found.
"The fine margin between discovery and loss makes this result all the more remarkable."
Mr Leigh-Mallory plans to continue metal detecting, though he doesn't expect to find anything of such value again.
He said: “But it’s not about money. It’s about finding connections to our past.”
“One day my wife said to me: ‘You realise you promised you’d take the kids metal detecting.’ So, I said: ‘Right, kids, we’re going detecting.’ We found an Elizabethan coin, which they were so excited by. It really ignited my passion so I invested in a new detector."
After finding the coin, Mr Leigh-Mallory paid a visit to Henry III's tomb in Westminster Abbey to "say thank you to Henry".
He said of his discovery: "I am humbled and honoured to be linked with the discovery and subsequent history afforded to us by the staggering research undertaken by Spink and the wider academic community about this coin.
After finding the coin, Mr Leigh-Mallory paid a visit to Henry III's tomb in Westminster Abbey to "say thank you to Henry".
He said of his discovery: "I am humbled and honoured to be linked with the discovery and subsequent history afforded to us by the staggering research undertaken by Spink and the wider academic community about this coin.