A retired professional diver turned metal detectorist made a remarkable discovery in April 2022 when he unearthed a hoard of 67 British Iron Age coins in a Dorset meadow, just 15 miles from his home in Cranborne, U.K.
The silver staters, attributed to the Durotrigan tribe, are expected to fetch about £20,000 (about $34,000 CAD) at a Coins, Historical Medals and Numismatic Books sale hosted by Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, May 29.
The anonymous 90-year-old finder, who has been detecting since 2002, uncovered the hoard over five days during a detecting club meeting.
“I was using my White XLT detector and had just dug up a Victorian penny near a gateway,” he recalled. “After lunching by a nearby tree, I went back to the same spot and something silver popped up. I knew immediately it was a silver stater from the Durotriges.”
As he continued detecting, with help from fellow hobbyists, 67 staters were eventually recovered. A nearby wire-wrapped fence initially interfered with the signals. Once the wire was removed with the landowner’s permission, the area was rechecked, but no additional coins were found. The fence, believed to date to the 1800s, may have disturbed the original hoard.
“It was a truly exciting find,” the detectorist said. “But it’s also sobering to think this was once someone’s considerable loss.”
Although no museums or institutions were involved in the discovery, the hoard was reported to the local finds liaison officer the following business day. British numismatist Dr. John Talbot is set to include a study of the hoard in his upcoming book on Durotrigan coinage, due in the next two to three years. The finder will share the proceeds of the sale with the landowner but said he has no firm plans for the money “other than to enjoy it.”
A RARE WINDOW INTO DUROTRIGAN COINAGE
Noonans coin specialist Alice Cullen believes the coins were likely buried together as a single deposit, evidenced by their clustered recovery, although no container was found.
“There is no better place to find Cranborne-type staters than in Cranborne itself,” Cullen said. “The coins may even have been deposited as a ritual offering, suggesting that nothing nefarious took place at all.”
She described the hoard as a valuable case study in Durotrigan numismatics. Originally struck in “white gold” — silver with a high gold content — these staters later transitioned to lower-purity silver and billon compositions. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis shows the coins in this hoard vary widely in metal content, from just over 11 per cent gold to nearly 93 per cent silver, with some pieces containing a 70/30 silver-to-copper ratio. Weights also range significantly, from 6.09 grams to 3.83 grams.
The May 29 sale catalogue and bidding information is available at noonans.co.uk.