Metal detectorist unearths rare gold coins from Black Death period

By Laura Geggel - Editor 5 days ago

The hoard belonged to a wealthy person in England



The medieval gold noble coin, as seen from different angles. (Image credit: The British Museum; (CC BY 2.0))
A metal detectorist in England has unearthed two rare gold coins that date to the mid-14th century, a time when Black Death was ravaging the country.

Both medieval coins depict Edward III, who tried to introduce gold coinage to England starting in 1344. One of the newfound coins — a leopard coin (also called a half florin), issued from January to July 1344 — was considered "failed" because the mint charges were too high and the value assigned to the leopard coins overvalued gold against silver, according to a June 17 statement from the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS).

Edward III tried to rectify these monetary problems by introducing new coins from July 1344 until 1351, when the other newfound coin was minted. This coin, called a gold noble, weighed nearly 0.3 ounces (7.7 grams), more than twice as much as the 0.12-ounce (3.5 g) leopard.

The metal detectorist found both gold coins near the town of Reepham in Norfolk County in October 2019, but PAS archaeologists have only now finished their assessments of the coins. As for how the coins ended up in the ground, archaeologists have proposed two possibilities. "It seems likely that both coins went into the ground at the same time, either as part of a purse loss or as part of a concealed hoard," according to a statement from PAS, a project managed by the British Museum in England and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales that analyzes and preserves valuable artifacts found in the U.K.

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