Posted on 02/20/2008 3:46:01 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
A METAL detecting enthusiast has unearthed a Roman coin thought to be one of the oldest ever found in Wales. Retired butcher Roy Page, 69, of Coedpoeth, found the detailed 2,000-year-old coin on a farm near St Asaph when he went on a search there with the Mold-based Historical Search Society.
Roy handed the tiny silver coin to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, who identified it as dating from the second century BC.
It is believed to have been brought over some time after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, or during earlier visits in the first century BC.
Roy, who has been metal detecting for five years, said: "The person who held the coin was probably a Roman.
"When he told me I nearly fainted, I was over the moon. I was told by an expert in our group that it could be the oldest coin found in Wales.
"It shows how far the Romans came into this country.
"It is living history. I suppose the way I feel is how you would feel if you won the pools.
"When you look at a map of where old coins have been found in Wales there have not been many found around St Asaph."
The coin depicts two horses being driven by a man on a chariot.
Roy routinely puts in 10 hours of metal detecting a week using his computerised Minelab X Terra metal detector, which can differentiate between metals.
Roy was making his way to his car for a drink when the familiar high pitched bleep started up, signifying a coin.
Roy said: "I flipped the soil back and it was there, only six inches down.
"I was thirsty and so I popped it in my pocket with my other finds." Roy says he is not interested in the value of the coin, taking pleasure from simply having found it.
He said: "That is the first thing people ask me, how much it is worth.
"I haven't even bothered to find out."
True but, it ought to make cents too.
And here I thought getting a bicentennial quarter with my change back from a cup of coffee the other day was special...
Hey, we should treasure all of these topics, even those which are centsless.
The other side’s got Helen Thomas’ picture on it.
Thanks for the ping!
I got back a 1911 wheat cent in my change sometime in january. I wouldn’t have noticed except I dropped it on the floor and then looked at it more carefully. I guess it is worth a couple bucks. Not much, but it was kind of cool to get a coin nearly a century old.
I agree, it ought to make cents, but I can’t make heads or tails out of it.
;)
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