A treasure hunter has become rich after digging up a 500-year-old gold coin that could be worth more than 4,000 pounds .
Gareth Millward dug up the rare coin in a field near Ashbourne, Derbyshire and says it was the most memorable moment of his four years of treasure hunting.
The 35-year-old said he had a feeling the field he was about to dig into last summer would bring him something.
Accordingly, he searched the area for 6 weeks and his colleagues also found rare coins, but his gold coin is what a treasure hunter dreams of.
Experts say the coin, currently held by Derby Museum, could cost around £2,000 – £4,000 but the coin Mr Millward unearthed has been preserved in the best possible condition, meaning is that it could be worth more.
This minted gold coin would have been used during the Tudor era (circa 1485 – 1603) and features an ancient ship with the Royal Arms on its sails.
A treasure hunter became rich after digging up a 500-year-old coin.
Regarding the process of searching for this rare coin, Mr. Millward said: “I only searched for about 20 minutes in the field and received a strong signal from the metal detector. I dug down about 15 cm, the signal was still at the bottom of the hole so I dug a little deeper hoping there was something underneath.”
“As the dry bones crumbled inside the hole, it revealed a golden light. I immediately knew it was a gold coin, I picked it up and looked in amazement. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” this treasure hunter recounted.
Mr. Millward, described his excitement when digging up this rare gold coin: “I screamed with joy and sat there for nearly an hour in disbelief about what had just happened. This is only my 5th treasure hunt. I wonder how I can find this coin. I must have been the luckiest man in discovering the treasure that day.”
Gold coins were in circulation during the Tudor era.
Mr. Millward then showed the coin he had discovered to the land owner and the land owner allowed him to keep it.
“Both me and my family are stunned. My father loved looking at the coins I found but unfortunately he passed away just a few weeks earlier.”
