Teenage metal detectorists discover rare coins in fields

Reece Pickering, 17, found a Harold II silver penny dating back to 1066 while detecting in a farmer's field

Two rare coins dating back 1,000 years are to be auctioned after being separately discovered by teenage metal detectorists.

Catering apprentice Reece Pickering, 17, from Great Yarmouth, found a Saxon coin in Topcroft, Norfolk, in August.

Walter Taylor, 16, from Essex, dug up a silver penny dating back to 1106 while scanning a farmer's field in the county in September.

The coins are expected to fetch between £2,500 and £3,500 at auction on Monday.

The finds will be auctioned as part of a two-day online event by Derbyshire-based Hansons' Auctioneers.

Reece said the coin was "pretty special to find"

Reece was in a farmer's field with his father Jonny Crowe when he found the Harold II silver penny dating back to 1066.

Mr Crowe said the coin was recorded with The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and only two others were known to exist.

He said he and his son had "only come across rubbish" until his son discovered the penny.

"I heard Reece shouting and waving from the other side of the field," he said.

"He kicked the dirt away, picked up the coin and gave it a wipe. We knew it was special."

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Reece said: "I wasn't expecting to come across such a scarce and remarkable coin.

"I can't imagine finding something as special as this again."

The coin dug up by Walter Taylor depicts Henry I pointing at a comet

Walter had been metal detecting with his father and uncle for four hours when he found a Henry I silver penny.

"I was constantly digging hot rock but finding nothing," he said.

"Then the register on my detector rose from 26 to 76."

The GSCE student, who has been metal detecting since the age of four, sent a photo of the coin to an expert who said it was "really rare".