Rare penny found in field by detectorist could net £ 15,000
A RARE silver penny which commemorates Baron Eustace Fitzjohn, a 12th century Yorkshire business magnate, and was recently discovered by a metal detectorist, is expected to sell for up to £ 15,000 next month.
The coin, which measures 0.7in ( 19mm) in diameter, was minted in York and is one of only 20 surviving examples with this design.
It was unearthed in August by Rob Brown, and his metal detector, on a stubble field near Pickering in North Yorkshire.
The 56- year- old, from Leeds, walked just 20 paces before receiving his first signal of the day.
At a depth of just two inches in a clump of soil, Mr Brown said he saw the edge of a silver coin which had a design on one side of a standing helmeted knight holding a sword.
“I was detecting with a friend and we found the coin, we weren’t sure if it was Saxon or Viking, so put a picture on a Facebook page devoted to milled and hammered coins – lots of people were reacting and were very excited – many knew instantly who/ what it was,”
Mr Brown, who has been metaldetecting for eight years, said.
Eustace Fitzjohn was the Lord of Malton and Knaresborough who served under King Henry I and become a wealthy landowner. He went on to support the Empress Matilda when she fought a civil war with her cousin Stephen.
The coin will be sold at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb in a live/ online auction of coins and historical medals on November 3.
Meanwhile, two metal detectorists dug up coins from almost 1,000 years ago – and potentially worth thousands of pounds each – in separate discoveries.
The coins will be sold at auction as part of a two- day online event by Derbyshire- based Hansons’ Auctioneers on October 26.
Reece Pickering, 17, of Great Yarmouth, found a Saxon coin in fields in Topcroft, Norfolk, while Walter Taylor, 16, who lives near Ongar, uncovered a Henry I silver penny in a field in south Essex.