Ancient silver coins found in china clay country
A treasure trove of silver Roman coins has been discovered lying buried in a field in Cornwall.
Forty-five coins dating back to the 3rd century were found by a local man and his son who were out metal-detecting in St Blazey, near St Austell.
The collection, verified by experts at the British Museum, has yet to be valued but could be worth around the £1,000 mark.
At a treasure trove hearing in Truro on Tuesday, Anna Tyacke, Cornwall's find liaison officer, said 40 of the coins were discovered in February last year and five more were later dug up in September.
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But they were all within the same 25 sq m area.
Ms Tyacke said the earliest coins dated back to AD 253 and were from the Central Empire and Gallic Empire depicting images of various emperors.
"You would expect to see more than one emperor (on the coins) in the hoard because they kept killing each other off," she said.
Ms Tyacke added that The Royal Institution of Cornwall – the organisation that owns and manages the Royal Cornwall Museum and Courtney Library, was interested in acquiring the collection.
Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon declared the coins were treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act.
She asked the media not to reveal the exact spot where the coins were discovered to avoid other treasure hunters from trespassing. Businessman Paul Walkey of Biscovey, Par, found the coins while out with his son Aaron.
Mr Walkey said: "I only started metal-detecting last year so it was a nice surprise to find all these coins. They were about 6-9 inches deep and obviously covered in earth.
"It's 50 years since I studied history at school but I always thought the Romans never came any further south than Exeter."
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