A 200-year-old crime and hoard which was not what it seemed
THE discovery of an ancient hoard dug up in the Staffordshire countryside was definitely cause for excitement.
Novice metal detectorist John McGimpsey found the 332 silver coins in a field near the town of Leek.
Unfortunately they were fakes – but still fairly old, and with a decent tale to boot.
In fact they were buried 220 years ago by notorious criminal forger George Fearns.
Research revealed they were buried in 1801 in a bid to hide the proof of his crimes. He had been caught passing forged notes to two undercover policemen during a sting operation at a pub.
It is believed that Fearns, who lived in a 16th century stone-walled house 200 yards from the field, buried the coins while he was being investigated.
Although the stash remained undiscovered for two centuries, the police still had enough evidence to prosecute him and he was hanged at Stafford Gaol in 1801.
Mr McGimpsey, 64, who only
took up metal detecting during the first lockdown, found the coins buried 10 inches below the surface.
The half crowns, shillings and sixpences appear to have been wrapped in old bank notes, as a tiny fragment of paper was found which has been sent for analysis.
The previous record haul of forged coins is 92, which is now in the British Museum.
The hoard has been declared as treasure under the Treasure Act 1996 and is being catalogued.
Mr McGimpsey said the British Museum and the Potteries Museum
in Hanley had both shown an interest in acquiring the hoard, with the proceeds of the eventual sale to be split between him and the landowner.
Mr McGimpsey said: “I picked up a signal between two trees. I had pretty much given up when I spotted a small disc-shaped object.
“I flicked it with my finger, only to discover it was attached to ten other similar sized discs – they were all coins.”
He called colleague Tony Cummins, a seasoned detectorist, who drove to the spot and helped Mr McGimpsey carry on looking.
Mr McGimpsey said: “We finally placed all the coins into a rucksack and laid them out on the finds table. A close initial examination revealed that many, if not all of them, appeared to be forgeries.
“Then Tony noticed something really strange – the coins all depicted the busts of William III but the reverses were all of George II and dated 1746.”
He added: “It seems like Fearns was trying to hide the hoard’s location between two distinctive trees, which suggests he had hoped to retrieve them, but never got the chance.”
Julian Evan-Hart, editor of Treasure Hunting magazine, said it was an amazing discovery which had more “historical than monetary value”.