England
Dad finds extremely rare gold coin with metal detector – thanks to his kids
The gold coin from the time of Henry III. was auctioned for the equivalent of almost 650,000 euros
© Spink
A father from England used a metal detector to find a gold coin from the 13th century that has now been auctioned for 650,000 euros. His children also play a large part in this.
For years, Michael Leigh-Mallory had pursued a somewhat unusual hobby: scouring the area for treasure with a metal detector – until the children came and he no longer had time for it. But when his daughter Emily and son Harry were big enough, they urged their father to go treasure hunting with them. And indeed they found what they were looking for: the family from Devon, England, came across a gold coin from the time of Henry III. (1207-1272).
“One day my wife said to me, ‘You know you promised the kids you would go out with the metal detector.'” Leigh-Mallory told the story. “So I said, ‘Okay, kids, let’s go.'” First, they found a coin from the Elizabeth I era (1533–1603). Hooked on this, the 52-year-old invested in a new, better metal detector. With that he found the valuable coin from the 13th century.
Gold coin auctioned for a record sum
This is the oldest gold coin ever found in England. It is correspondingly valuable: at an auction by the London auction house Spink, it was auctioned off for a whopping 540,000 pounds (equivalent to almost 650,000 euros) – a record sum for the auction house.
Leigh-Mallory was initially unaware that he had found such a treasure. “I knew it was gold, but I had no idea how important it was,” he said of the coin. After the discovery, he first posted a picture of his find on the Internet, where the auction house became aware of it. Then the father slowly suspected what he and his ten and 13-year-old children had dug up there.
“I owe my kids”
“If I hadn’t made that promise to my children, this coin would probably never have been found,” he says. “I really owe them one because they were my inspiration to explore for mineral resources.” The coin Leigh-Mallory found is thought to date from 1257. So far, only eight known specimens have surfaced. Leigh-Mallory splits the sale price with the landowner and intends to invest a large part of the money in his children’s education. He now wants to unpack the metal detector more often
Sources: Spink / “Guardians”