Feb 28 2008
Metal Detectorist Finds Wales Oldest Coin
Once again our metal detecting friends across the pond have found an ancient relic.
A 2,000 year old Roman coin was found by retired butcher Roy Page, and is believed to be the oldest coin ever found in the country. Page uses a Minelab X-Terra metal detector and says he puts in about 10 hours a week with it. On the way to his car for a drink he heard the high-pitched beep that signals a coin. Then, he “flipped the soil back and it was there, only six inches down.”
Page said he “was thirsty and so he popped it in his pocket with his other finds.” Later he showed it to a Roman coin expert in the Portable Antiquities Scheme who helped him identify it as from the second century BC. “When he told me I nearly fainted, I was over the moon. It is living history. The last person who held the coin was probably a Roman.”
The coin was probably brought over some time after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, or during earlier visits in the first century BC. Page is shocked and awed at his find, not caring how much it’s worth as he doesn’t intend to sell it. “When you look at a map of where old coins have been found in Wales there have not been many found around St. Asaph. I haven’t even bothered to find out its worth.”
Just like a true metal detectorist,… he doesn’t care what it’s worth, just wants to enjoy having it. What’s your favorite find? What’s your oldest find? Heck, who wants to organize a metal detecting trip across the pond?
- Shaun
