Ancient Gold Coins Minted 1,400 Years Apart Unearthed in Same Field

A metal detectorist found two gold coins from different historical eras on the same day in what he described as an "amazing" discovery.

Jasper Hyde unearthed the coins on July 30 in a 47-acre farmer's field in Derbyshire, a county in England's East Midlands region. The two artifacts were located relatively close together—about 1,300 feet away from each other. But they are separated by more than 1,400 years of history.

The first coin is a Celtic gold stater thought to date to around 65 B.C., Hyde said in a Facebook post.

The second is a medieval quarter noble dated to A.D. 1351-1361, during the reign of King Edward III.

"A lucky day," Hyde said in the post.

Hyde told Newsweek his main reaction to finding the coins was "disbelief."

"It's very unusual to find gold, and to find two unconnected gold finds from different eras in one day is almost unheard-of," he said. "Celtic gold is a very special find, and the pristine condition of the Edward III coin also makes it very unusual."

He continued: "I enjoy finding anything—with the exception of ring pulls, foil and bottle tops—but a gold find is always very special to a detectorist. Because it is so unreactive, gold comes out of the ground looking very similar to the day it was dropped or buried. The glint of gold in the earth is unmistakable."

The discoveries came during a group dig event organized by a metal detecting group called Down to Earth Charity Digs. Participants pay a fee, which is then donated to charities selected by the owners of the land where the digs take place.

While the group dig did not begin well for Hyde, he eventually got lucky, stumbling across the ancient Celtic coin.

"The first couple of hours [of the dig] were not good," he told the BBC. "I set off again to look in another area of the field and about 30 meters [98 feet] away from the cars I got a good signal, dug it up and the glint of gold was there. It's a special find."

But little did he know that he was in store for another surprise: finding the Edward III quarter noble about an hour later.

"As far as metal detecting days go, [it] was about as good as it could be really," he told the BBC, describing the discoveries as "just amazing."

Other finds that were made in the same field by event attendees included musket ammunition, Bronze Age axes and a Roman coin.

"There were some other amazing finds on the dig. It was a field of dreams," Hyde, who has been metal detecting for around nine months, told the BBC.

"I have always been interested in local history and the relationship between landscape and human activity," Hyde told Newsweek. "Metal detecting was a good way to find clues and provide explanations."

Roger White, an archaeologist with the University of Birmingham, told the BBC the Celtic coin is likely associated with the Corieltauvi tribe. The Corieltauvi lived in Britain before the Roman conquest, and their former territory now forms part of the East Midlands region.

Regarding the other coin, White said it is made from high-purity gold—as shown by its bright color—and is relatively unworn, indicating that it was not in circulation for a long time or had been hoarded.

"The field has been plowed hundreds of times, so it's incredible that neither coin has a mark on it from farm machinery," Hyde told Newsweek.

After finding the coins, Hyde reported the discovery to a finds liaison officer at the University of Birmingham, who told him they were not classed as treasure. He is now hoping to put them on display at a local museum.

"It's not about commercial gain at all," Hyde told the BBC. "It's about the history and the enjoyment of finding things and sharing them."

Last month, archaeologists uncovered several 500-year-old gold coins during excavations at the ruins of a medieval monastery in Germany.

Also in July, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that a rare ancient coin dated to the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire had been discovered in the Judean Desert.