If you’ve always been wooed by the commercials for metal detectors, this story might just about get you to buy one. A man in England named Wesley Harrington has recently found 159 gold coins valued at around $156,000. How did he do it? His trusty metal detector. Even more amazing, Harrington found these coins while taking the metal detector out on its maiden voyage – it was the first time he’d ever used the thing!
Roman Gold
Harrington had just purchased his metal detector, opting for the most basic model. After first finding a spoon and half penny, Harrington dug down about seven inches into the dirt – and lo and behold, a gold coin. Obviously, Harrington kept digging at this spot, uncovering 55 coins before darkness forced him to leave the site for the day. Experts later came back to the site and found an additional 104 gold coins.
All the coins are Roman in origin, dating back to the time when Romans lived in Britain. Although Harrington is a very lucky chap, the discovery of these coins isn’t a complete surprise – the area where they were discovered, St. Albans, is well-known for Roman artifacts. There’s even a museum in St. Albans documenting how Romans used to live when in the area.