Edward III gold coin found by Norfolk detectorist sells for £174k

Coins discovered by Mark Pallett (left) and Andy Carter have been sold at auction

An "extremely rare and important" Edward III leopard gold coin found by a metal detectorist has sold for £174,600 at auction.

The florin, which dates from 1344, was discovered in Reepham, Norfolk, in 2019 by Andy Carter who said it was a "life-changing amount of money".

It was expected to sell for £140,00.

At the same auction, an Anglo-Saxon gold coin found in a Cambridgeshire field sold for £18,600, more than £8,000 over its expected auction price.

The Edward III coin was minted at the Tower of London in January 1344

The 23-carat Edward III coin, which features a leopard sitting upright wearing a banner, had a face value of three shillings or 36 silver pennies, auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb said.

It was in circulation for just seven months before it was withdrawn making it "extremely rare and important", it added.

It was bought by a private collector from the UK.

Mr Carter, 65, from Norwich, said: "This is a life-changing amount of money and I will share with the landowner, but my partner would like a new kitchen and I have always dreamt of getting a Land Rover Defender, not sure where I will park it though!"

The Anglo-Saxon gold coin was expected to sell for between £8,000 to £10,000 and went for £18,600

The Anglo-Saxon gold shilling, which dates from AD650-670, was bought in the sale room by a member of the trade for a client, the auctioneers said.

Only eight examples of this 'Crispus' type have been recorded on the Early Medieval Coins database at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, it added.

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Mark Pallett, from Brentwood, Essex, discovered it in a field in Haslingfield, South Cambridgeshire, on 3 January.

"I am truly overwhelmed by the price that the coin achieved and am pleased for myself and the farmer who will get half of the proceeds," he said.

"I did think about buying a new detector with the money but I don't think that there's anything wrong with my current one as it helped me find this wonderful coin!"

An 11th or 12th Century gold cross found in Lincolnshire in April 2019 is up for sale later this month

A medieval pendant discovered in a muddy field by a Norwich detectorist, James Willis, will be sold by the same auction house on 15 March and is expected to sell for £8,000.