Little did Michael Leigh-Mallory, an amateur metal detectorist, imagine that the gold coin he found in September last year, in a field near Hemyock (Devon, United Kingdom), would make historians and numismatists sit up with excitement. He had taken up the hobby after a gap of almost 10 years at the insistence of his family, he would later tell the media.
While it is not unusual for hobbyists to find bits and pieces of treasure, Leigh-Mallory chanced upon what is believed to be one of England&rsquos first gold coins, dating back to the time of King Henry III (ruled from 1216-1272), one of the longest ruling monarchs of England.
The Westminster Abbey congratulating the finder, wrote on their Facebook page &ndash &lsquoThe beautiful little coin was struck in around 1257AD, and is one of only eight known to survive. It shows Henry sitting in a throne on what's thought to be the Cosmati Pavement - one of the great treasures of the Abbey which the king himself commissioned&rsquo. The king was buried in Westminster Abbey, which he had rebuilt during the later part of his reign.
According to historians, the king introduced gold pennies partly to fund his war but the overvalued currency attracted complaints from the City of London and was ultimately abandoned. Only a few of the coins are said to exist today, most in the possession of museums.
Media reports said that the finder had posted an image of the gold coin on Facebook when it caught the attention of Gregory Edmund, a numismatic scholar from Spink & Son. The coin is said to have been minted around 1257. One side of the coin showed King Henry III, holding an orb and sceptre, sitting on a throne the other side had the picture of a long cross and roses.
Spink and Sons, who would ultimately auction the gold coin in January this year, while describing the details of the coin, wrote &ndash &lsquo&hellip slightly crimped with two deft scratches in left obverse field, and resultant friction and light sporadic 'stubble rash', otherwise on a remarkably broad and full weight flan, handsomely uniform and beautifully struck-up, the peripheral details finer even than the sole previous specimen housed in the British Museum since 1810, extremely fine and delightfully 'fresh' thus, of the highest rarity and of international significance as a brand new die pairing, one of only four in private hands a monument in the Medieval series and the most significant contribution to English Numismatics since the discovery of the Double-Leopard, sold at Spink in 2006&rsquo.
The auctioneer&rsquos had kept the starting price of the coin at five pounds, which ultimately sold for 5,40,000 pounds.
According to a report by the Smithsonian Magazine, last year, another Henry III gold penny sold for 720,000 dollars at an auction in Dallas, Texas.
