Student finds coins hidden for more than 300 years on first dig in Western Scotland

None of the 36 coins were made after 1680

Have you ever been told you are a natural at something? Well, one student probably will have been, after she found coins that had been hidden for more than 300 years on her very first dig!

Lucy Ankers made the discovery on an archaeological dig in Western Scotland.

She found the coins under a fireplace and said "I don't think I will ever beat the feeling of seeing the coins peeking out of the dirt in the pot".

Lucy made the discovery on her first archaeological dig

A total of 36 coins were found inside a pot, which had been placed beneath a stone slab in the fireplace of a house.

Archaeologists believe the pot was hidden by someone feeling the Massacre of Glencoe in February 1692.

The house were the discovery was made, has links to the MacDonald clan's chief Alasdair Ruadh "MacIain" MacDonald of Glencoe.

Archaeologists from the University of Glasgow, who led the excavation which took place in August, they say there are a number of reasons why they think the money is related to the event.

It was the first major excavation of the scattered rocks in Glencoe

Dr Michael Given, who is a co-director on the project in Glencoe, said: "These exciting finds give us a rare glimpse of a single, dramatic event."

None of the coins were dated after the 1680s, so experts suggest they were put under the fireplace for safekeeping around the time of the event, but the owner never came back for them.

The find includes pieces from the time of Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles I.