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| Credit: Pippa Pearce |
Detectorists find huge Chew Valley Norman coin hoard
BBC NEWS Aug. 28, 2019
A huge hoard of silver coins dating back to the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings could be declared as treasure.The 2,528 silver coins were found in the Chew Valley, north-east Somerset, by a group of metal detectorists.
Lisa Grace and Adam Staples, who unearthed the bulk of the hoard, said: "We've been dreaming of this for 15 years but it's finally come true."
The British Museum said it was the second largest find of Norman coins ever in the UK.
Mr Staples, from Derby, added: "It was totally unbelievable - to find one would be an exceptional day metal detecting.
"To find two unrelated coins would be almost impossible. And when there were more beeps, from two to 10, from 50 to 100, to wow how many are there?
"From then on it was just crazy." The coins, which date from just after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, depict both the defeated King Harold II and the triumphant William the Conqueror.
If the hoard is officially declared as treasure, the Roman Baths in Bath hopes to acquire the coins.
Stephen Clews, from the Roman Baths, said: "If you look at the true value of this, it's about 500 sheep - that's what you would have been to able to buy with them about 1,000 years ago.
"So what we need to do is translate that into some sort of modern value."
The Chew Valley hoard contains 1,236 coins of Harold II, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England, and 1,310 coins of William I, as well as several coin fragments. Mr Staples, 43, said he and his girlfriend were training five friends to use their metal detectors on a weekend trip when they made the discovery.
The first coin, of William the Conqueror, was found by a friend, with the bulk of the hoard found by Mr Staples and his partner.
