Barley field find breaks record for Roman coin haul

Minutes after picking up a metal detector for the first time a Somerset farmer had to get a bucket when he unearthed the largest hoard of Roman silver coins found in Britain.

Kevin Elliott was learning how to use the detector, aided by his cousin, in a barley field on his father's farm at Shapwick, near Glastonbury.

"Within three to four minutes I found a coin in a gateway," he said. Within half an hour the cousins needed not one bucket but several, as they turned up 9,310 coins scattered across the field, buried under less than a foot of soil. Martin Elliott, who had been using detectors for years but never found anything of value, said he was "very surprised".

The cousins now stand to make up to £250,000 from their afternoon's activity. Most of the coins are relatively common; they are worn silver denarii, some in very poor condition. But there are two exceptionally rare coins never found in Britain before, and the haul is three times the size of the largest previous find.

A coroner's inquest yesterday declared the discovery treasure-trove, which means that the British Museum is entitled to acquire it, with the finders receiving the full market value as compensation. The museum is backing the attempt by Somerset county museum to acquire the hoard. Yesterday, Steve Minnitt, Somerset museums officer, said he would give his "eye teeth for the coins".

The money was found a year ago, where there were no records of Roman occupation. But scientific tests and a partial excavation have revealed traces of extensive buildings about 12 miles from the Roman town of Ilchester. After centuries of ploughing only the base of building foundations remain.

The rarities are two coins depicting Manlia Scantilla, the even more obscure wife of one of the most obscure Roman emperors, Didius Julianus. He just had time to issue the coins in his four-week reign before being murdered in AD 193.

Mr Minnitt said yesterday the coins were unusual for being from the early part of the third century, probably from around 224AD, a time of relative peace and prosperity. Coin hoards usually date from the last days of the Roman empire, when enemies were closing in and treasure was hidden hastily with no guarantee of owners getting back to collect it.

A few later bronze coins were also found, suggesting that occupation continued for centuries. Before their return to Somerset all the coins will have been cleaned and catalogued at the British Museum.