British Treasure Hunter Finds $5 Million Stash of Roman Coins With Metal Detector

(July 8) -- A British treasure hunter has stumbled upon the country's biggest-ever find of Roman coins buried in a field in southwest England.

Using a metal detector, Dave Crisp found a hoard of more than 52,000 coins buried in an enormous pot in county Somerset. The bronze and silver coins date from the third century and include some minted by self-proclaimed Emperor Carausius.

The stash has been valued at around $5 million and weighs more than 350 pounds, The Associated Press reported.

A staff member displays handfuls of coins of Tetricus I on display at the British Museum in London, Thursday, July 8.

Sang Tan, AP

About 52,500 Roman coins were found in a large pot by a British treasure hunter Dave Crisp using a metal detector in a field in southwest England. Here, a staff member at the British Museum in London shows off some of the hoard.

"I have made many finds over the years, but this is my first major coin hoard," Crisp told the BBC.

Crisp was first alerted to the stash when he found a tiny coin buried about a foot deep. The more he dug, the more coins he unearthed. After pulling up a dozen of them, he called in the experts.

It took staff at the British Museum a full month to wash the coins and three more months to catalog them, according to The Guardian.

It isn't clear how the huge quantity of coins got into the field. A Roman road runs near the site, but there is no evidence of any Roman villa or settlement there. Archaeologists believe they may represent the life savings of an entire community and may have been buried as part of a religious ceremony.

The find may change the way the British view their Roman heritage, putting greater emphasis on the story of Carausius. Carausius was a Roman naval officer who was declared an outlaw when Emperor Maximian suspected he was making deals with pirates.

Carausius fled to Britain in 286 and declared himself emperor, ruling over Britain and part of France for seven years before being killed by his finance minister.

""This find presents us with an opportunity to put Carausius on the map," Roger Bland, a coins expert from the British Museum, told AP. "Schoolchildren across the country have been studying Roman Britain for decades, but are never taught about Carausius our lost British emperor."