Father discovered a medieval English gold coin worth a record $875,000 on the first day he tried out his new metal detector
When his children were born, Michael Leigh-Mallory gave up his passion for metal detecting. Now, 10 and 13, they encouraged him to take up the hobby again. On the first day he used his new metal detector, he found the oldest gold coin in England, dating back to the 13th century.
“The day after it arrived, I went out into this field. It was a bright, sunny day, and within 15 minutes, I found the coin. I knew it was gold, but I had no idea how important it was,” Leigh-Mallory told The Guardian.
The 52-year old ecologist and amateur historian had dug up the rare gold penny as it glistened in a field in Devon, South West England, and was advised to take it to the British Museum.
The gold coin was found by the father of two, dates back to the thirteen century. Spink auction house
It was discovered to be one of only eight in existence, and the last one was found 260 years ago, according to The Metro.
The coin, made from North African gold, was minted in the reign of Henry III, who was the English king between 1217-72.
Father discovered a medieval English gold coin worth a record $875,000 on the first day he tried out his new metal detector
Not only did it bring immense joy to Leigh-Mallory and his family, but also a record-breaking hammer price of £540,000 – with extra fees taking the total £648,000 ($878,778) – when the coin was sold at Spink and Sons auctioneers in London, last week.
Spink told Insider that the sale price made it the most valuable coin ever sold in the UK. A private collector bought it, say reports.
The gold coin was found by the father of two, which dates back to the 13th century. Spink auction house
“It is quite surreal, really,” Leigh-Mallory told the paper. “I’m just a normal guy who lives in Devon with his family, so this really is a life-changing sum of money which will go towards their futures.”
In a statement to Insider, Leigh-Mallory said that he is “humbled and honoured to be linked with the discovery and subsequent history afforded to us by the staggering research undertaken by Spink and the wider academic community about this coin.”
He will split the profits of the find with the landowner. “The money will be put towards my children’s future, who show the same passion for our history as me. In fact, I really owe it to them for having found the coin in the first place, as they were my inspiration to go out prospecting,” Leigh-Mallory added.
Woolly mammoth and rhino among Ice Age animals discovered in Devon cave
The remains of Ice Age animals including mammoths, woolly rhinoceros and hyenas have been uncovered in a cave near Plymouth. The finds offer a glimpse of an ancient ecosystem from over 30,000 years ago and have started a campaign to prevent the cave from being sealed off once more.
Bones from Ice Age animals, such as the jaw of a woolly rhinoceros, were found during excavations and are now being studied.
Some of the earliest residents of a new town in Devon are not quite what you’d expect. The bones of mammoths, woolly rhinoceros and hyena are among the remains discovered in a cave during the construction of new houses in Sherford, near Plymouth. They date to the middle of the last Ice Age between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago. Rob Bourn, the lead archaeologist on the project, described the find as a major discovery of national significance,’ adding it was a once in a lifetime experience for those involved.’
He said, ‘To find such an array of artefacts untouched for so long is a rare and special occurrence. Equally rare is the presence of complete or semi-complete individual animals. We look forward to reaching the stage where the discoveries can be shared and displayed so that everyone can find out more about our distant past.’
The Ice Age remains are expected to go on display locally at The Box, a newly opened museum in Plymouth, amid debate over what should happen to the site of their discovery.
An Ice Age is any period of Earth’s history when the planet has a large number of ice covers, such as polar ice caps and glaciers. There have been five Ice Ages in Earth’s history, with the first taking place over two billion years ago. This has been followed by others such as the Cryogenian Ice Age when it is thought that ice sheets could have reached as far as the Equator.
What we tend to refer to as the Ice Age is simply the last glacial period. Ice sheets covered much of northern Europe until the current interglacial began around 11,700 years ago.
Dr Victoria Herridge, an expert in fossil elephants at the Museum who was not involved with the discovery, says, ‘The Sherford Ice Age fossils are from the middle of last major cold period, known as the Devensian. During this time, ice sheets covered much of Wales and northern England but did not reach as far south as in some earlier glaciations.
‘At this time, Devon then would have been a bitterly cold and dry place to be, even in summer. However, it was also a huge open grassland, capable of supporting vast herds of cold-tolerant animals like the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhino and reindeer, as well as the big carnivores like hyena and wolf that preyed upon them.’
The conclusion of this Ice Age also spelled the end for many of these animals, with climate change and the activity of early humans both suggested as potential causes. This had a significant impact on the planet, with dramatic changes in ecosystems resulting from the extinction of large herbivores.
Archaeological work at Sherford has previously uncovered Bronze Age remains at the site.
What was found in Sherford, and what happens now?
The Sherford finds include an almost complete wolf skeleton, as well as the tusk and bones of a woolly mammoth and part of the skull of a woolly rhinoceros. Even though the bones have been found together, it doesn’t necessarily mean the animals all lived at the same time. One suggestion is that the animals fell into a pit over thousands of years, while another is that the bones may have been washed into the cave or moved by predators.
Victoria says, ‘As our most recent geological period, the Ice Age fossil record is very rich in what are known as ‘superficial’ geological deposits – the gravels and sands deposited by ancient glacial streams. This means that Ice Age fossils turn up pretty frequently during construction projects or as a result of quarrying for gravel and sand.
‘The Museum has a huge number of Ice Age fossil mammals in its collections that were discovered during construction projects that shaped modern London. These include finds from the construction of the London Underground, while the tooth of a straight-tusked elephant was found during the construction of the Museum itself.
While the Sherford remains are set to go on display at The Box, the future of the site they were discovered in is being debated. A petition has been launched by Tara Beacroft, conservation officer for caving organisation the Devon and Cornwall Underground Council, to prevent the cave from being sealed.
Speaking to BBC News, she said that the site should be preserved for future generations and researchers as a ‘unique presence’ for the new town.
‘Let’s keep pushing so that we can continue the scientific research,’ Tara said. ‘We can find out more about the site’s potential ecology, we can find out more about the past climate and explore this incredible historical time capsule.’
However, The Sherford Consortium, which is developing the new town, said that it intends to seal the entrance, adding that the public should not attempt to visit the site.
In a press release, the developers said, ‘The underground space will be conserved, and no construction will take place on top of it. However, the entrance will be closed to both protect the historic site and ensure public welfare. It is not, nor will it be, possible for the public to safely access the area in which the discoveries have been made.’
While the debate continues, scientists will continue to research the remains found in the cave and add to our knowledge of the UK in the last Ice Age. Victoria says, ‘Every new discovery if excavated properly, has the potential to advance our understanding of what this past world was like.
‘This is vital knowledge. Scientists are still unravelling what role climate and humans played in the extinction of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhino – and what we can learn from that to protect species threatened by both today.’
Dozens of decapitated skeletons found in Roman cemetery dig
Archaeologists have discovered at least 40 beheaded skeletons in a Roman cemetery on the route of the high-speed HS2 railway. The 50-strong team made the grisly discovery in Fleet Marston near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
More than 400 bodies were exhumed and around 10 per cent were decapitated, with several having their heads placed between their legs or next to their feet.
HS2 Ltd said the decapitations suggest the bodies are of “criminals or a type of outcast”, although decapitation was a “normal, albeit marginal” part of burial during the late Roman period.
Archaeologists working on the HS2 project in St. James’s burial ground
The cemetery is the largest of its kind in Buckinghamshire.
The bodies are being held in storage for further analysis.
Unlike those exhumed from Christian grounds such as St James’s Gardens in north London, HS2 is under no obligation to rebury the bodies. The archaeologists discovered more than 1,200 coins at Fleet Marston, which suggests it was an area of trade and commerce.
Domestic objects including spoons, pins and brooches were found, while gaming dice and bells suggest that gambling and religious activity were popular at the site. The excavation was carried out over more than a year by Cotswold Archaeology and Oxford Archaeology (Copa), working on behalf of an HS2 contractor.
Copa senior project manager Richard Brown said: “The excavation is significant in both enabling a clear characterisation of this Roman town but also a study of many of its inhabitants.
“Along with several new Roman settlement sites discovered during the HS2 works it enhances and populates the map of Roman Buckinghamshire.”
Fleet Marston is one of more than 100 archaeological sites examined by HS2 since 2018 on the route of the first phase of the railway between London and Birmingham.
HS2 Ltd’s head of heritage Helen Wass said: “The HS2 archaeology programme has enabled us to learn more about our rich history in Britain.
“The large Roman cemetery at Fleet Marston will enable us to gain a detailed insight into the residents of Fleet Marston and the wider Roman Britain landscape.
“All human remains uncovered will be treated with dignity, care and respect and our discoveries will be shared with the community.”
Medieval College Building Found in Oxford, England
A “lost” Oxford University college has been unearthed during the construction project for new student flats. The former St Mary’s College was founded in 1435 but had already fallen into disrepair 100 years later.
Thirty student flats are being developed at Brasenose College’s Frewin Annexe where the college was found
A team from Oxford Archaeology discovered a massive limestone wall foundation, butchered animal bones and decorated floor tiles.
Construction firm Beard is developing 30 student flats at Brasenose College’s Frewin Annexe.
The ill-fated St Mary’s College was to be a base for Augustinian canons studying in Oxford.
A two-storey college chapel and library was built, but construction was very slow.
The college further faded into obscurity after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
A team from Oxford Archaeology are excavating a series of pits
Archaeologists have found a wall believed to have supported one of the college’s stone buildings.
They are also excavating a series of pits where disposed animal bones and charcoal suggest the kitchens were nearby.
Other items include a 17th Century stone flagon – drinks container, a bone comb and a medieval long cross silver penny.
A two-storey college chapel and library was built at the site
The site has been occupied since the late 11th Century and was once the location of a high-status Norman house.
Ben Ford, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology, called the remains a “unique and fascinating part of Oxford”.
“We are hoping to shed light not only on the layout of the lost college of St Mary’s but also discover evidence that tells us about the lives of some of medieval Oxford’s most powerful Norman families who probably lived at the site,” he said.
He added: “If we are really lucky, we may uncover signs of even older everyday life, from Oxford’s earliest years when it was first built as a heavily-defended town on the Thames, guarding the border between Saxon and the Viking held lands.”
Rare Roman wooden figure uncovered by HS2 archaeologists in Buckinghamshire
A waterlogged ditch in Buckinghamshire has yielded the most unexpected find — a rare, extremely well-preserved wooden figure dating back to Roman times. The discovery — the first of its kind in 100 years — was initially dismissed as a piece of degraded wood when it was found in Twyford during work on HS2 last July.
However, closer analysis revealed that it bears the shape of a human, seemingly dressed in a knee-length tunic tied at the waist and sporting either a hat or hair.
The figure is 26 inches (67 cm) tall — having lost the lowest part of its legs, not to mention its arms below the elbow — and is 7 inches (18 cm) wide.
Archaeologists said that the lack of oxygen in the trench in which the figure was found was what prevented it from rotting — preserving it for some 2,000 years.
While its exact purpose is unknown, experts believe that the wooden representation may have been carved for the gods as a form of religious offering.
A waterlogged ditch in Buckinghamshire has yielded the most unexpected find — a rare, extremely well-preserved wooden figure (pictured) dating back to Roman times
The wooden figure (pictured) is 26 inches (67 cm) tall — having lost the lowest part of its legs, not to mention its arms below the elbow — and is 7 inches (18 cm) wide
‘This is a truly remarkable find that brings us face to face with our past,’ said Historic England’s senior science advisor, Jim Williams.
‘The quality of the carving is exquisite and the figure is all the more exciting because organic objects from this period rarely survive.’
In the same ditch from which the wooden figure was recovered, archaeologists also found shards of pottery dating back to around 43–70 AD.
To provide a precise age for the figure itself, researchers are planning to conduct radiocarbon dating on a small fragment of the wood that was already broken off of the carving before it was unearthed from the ditch.
‘Not only is the survival of a wooden figure like this extremely rare for the Roman period in Britain, but it also raises new questions about this site,’ said archaeologist Iain Williamson of HS2’s Enabling Works Contractor, Fusion JV.
Outstanding questions, he added include: ‘Who does the wooden figure represent, what was it used for and why was it significant to the people living in this part of Buckinghamshire during the 1st century AD?’
The figure is currently being further examined and conserved in the laboratory by experts from York Archaeology. It is extremely rare for carved wooden figures from Britain’s prehistoric and Roman periods to survive into the present day.
The last such discovery — the ‘Dagenham Idol‘, which has been dated to 2250 BC — was recovered from the north bank of the Thames back in 1922.
In 2019 a Roman-era wooden arm that was thought to have been carved as a religious offering was found at the bottom of a well in Northampton.
The story of the figure’s discovery will feature on the episode of BBC Two’s ‘Digging for Britain’ programme airing on Thursday, January 13th.
Vast Roman town and hundreds of artefacts uncovered during rail excavation
The remains of a vast Roman trading settlement have been discovered by a team of archaeologists working along a future high-speed railway route in England.
Hundreds of Roman coins, jewellery, pottery and a pair of shackles were among the artefacts to be discovered at the site near a village in Northamptonshire, according to a press release from High Speed 2 (HS2) Tuesday.
HS2 is a large-scale project intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in central and northern England. The site, known as Backgrounds, dates back to around 50 AD, although it initially housed an Iron Age village dating back to around 400 BC, HS2 said.
The site is known as Backgrounds.
As an Iron Age road and more than 30 roundhouses were found near the Roman remains, archaeologists believe the Iron Age village developed into a wealthy Roman settlement. The area is believed to have developed over time and become wealthier, with new roads and stone buildings being constructed.
A Roman pot is shown as HS2 archaeologists uncover a vast Roman trading settlement in Northamptonshire
A huge Roman road around 10 meters in width (33 feet) runs through the settlement, far exceeding the normal maximum of around four meters (13 feet), said James West, site manager for MOLA Headland Infrastructure, which oversaw the excavation.
Badger leads archaeologists to a hoard of Roman coins in Spain Experts believe this road — described as “exceptional in its size” — indicates the settlement was once a busy area with carts going in and out with goods.
“Uncovering such a well-preserved and large Roman road, as well as so many high quality, finds has been extraordinary and tells us so much about the people who lived here,” West said in the press release.
A lead weight, cast into the shape of a head, was found at the site.
“The site really does have the potential to transform our understanding of the Roman landscape in the region and beyond.”
Giant 180 million-year-old ‘sea dragon’ fossil found in UK reservoir Unearthed workshops, kilns and several wells suggest the town would have been a “bustling and busy area” at its peak, the press release says. In addition to industrial practices, the foundations of buildings used for domestic purposes were also uncovered.
More than 300 Roman coins were found, suggesting a significant volume of commerce passed through the area. Glass vessels, highly decorative pottery, jewellery and evidence of cosmetics — as the mineral galena, which was crushed and mixed with oil to create makeup — was also discovered.
This coin depicting Marcus Aurelius from the reign of Emperor Constantine was one of more than 300 unearthed.
The quality of the soil, which is a fiery red colour in some parts, suggest activities involving burning took place in the area, such as bread making, metalwork or pottery.
The soil is a fiery red colour in parts, suggesting activities involving burning.
A pair of shackles discovered could also be evidence of either slave labour or criminal activity, the press release says.
The artefacts will be cleaned and examined by specialists, while the layout of the area and details of the buildings are being mapped. Backgrounds are one of more than 100 archaeological sites between London and Birmingham that HS2 has examined since 2018.
HS2 has unearthed a number of interesting archaeological finds, such as rare Roman statues found at a church in Buckinghamshire and a Roman mosaic at a farm in Rutland in the East Midlands.
Medieval warhorses no bigger than modern-day ponies, study finds
Medieval warhorses are often depicted as massive and powerful beasts, but in reality, many were no more than pony-sized by modern standards, a new study shows.
Horses during the period were often below 14.2 hands high, but the size was clearly not everything, as historical records indicate huge sums were spent on developing and maintaining networks for the breeding, training and keeping of horses used in combat.
A team of archaeologists and historians searching for the truth about the Great Horse have found they were not always bred for size, but for success in a wide range of different functions – including tournaments and long-distance raiding campaigns.
The bones are a metacarpal, the end of the humerus and a tooth row from a mandible
Researchers analysed the largest dataset of English horse bones dating between AD 300 and 1650, found at 171 separate archaeological sites.
The study, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, shows that breeding and training of warhorses was influenced by a combination of biological and cultural factors, as well as behavioural characteristics of the horses themselves such as temperament.
Depictions of medieval warhorses in films and popular media frequently portray massive mounts on the scale of Shire horses, some 17 to 18 hands high.
However, the evidence suggests that horses of 16 and even 15 hands were very rare indeed, even at the height of the royal stud network during the 13th and 14th centuries and that animals of this size would have been seen as very large by medieval people.
Researcher Helene Benkert, from the University of Exeter, said: “Neither size nor limb bone robusticity alone, are enough to confidently identify warhorses in the archaeological record.
Historic records don’t give the specific criteria which defined a warhorse; it is much more likely that throughout the medieval period, at different times, different conformations of horses were desirable in response to changing battlefield tactics and cultural preferences.”
The tallest Norman horse recorded was found at Trowbridge Castle, Wiltshire, estimated to be about 15hh, similar to the size of small modern light riding horses. The high medieval period (1200-1350 AD) sees the first emergence of horses of around 16hh, although it is not until the post-medieval period (1500-1650 AD) that the average height of horses becomes significantly larger, finally approaching the sizes of modern warmblood and draft horses.
Professor Alan Outram, from the University of Exeter, said: “High medieval destriers may have been relatively large for the time period, but were clearly still much smaller than we might expect for equivalent functions today.
Selection and breeding practices in the Royal studs may have focused as much on temperament and the correct physical characteristics for warfare as they did on raw size.”
Professor Oliver Creighton, the Principal Investigator for the project, commented: “The warhorse is central to our understanding of medieval English society and culture as both a symbol of status closely associated with the development of aristocratic identity and as a weapon of war famed for its mobility and shock value, changing the face of battle.“
The research, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. was carried out by Carly Ameen, Helene Benkert, Malene Lauritsen, Karina Rapp, Tess Townend, Laura May Jones, Camille Mai Lan Vo Van Qui, Robert Webley, Naomi Sykes, Oliver H. Creighton and Alan Outram from the University of Exeter, Tamsyn Fraser from the University of Sheffield, Rebecca Gordon, Matilda Holmes and Will Johnson from the University of Leicester, Mark Maltby from Bournemouth University, Gary Paul Baker and Robert Liddiard from the University of East Anglia.
Giant 30-foot ‘sea dragon’ fossil from 180 million years ago discovered in UK
The remains of a monstrous, 33-foot-long (10 meters) “sea dragon” that swam in the seas when dinosaurs were alive some 180 million years ago have been unearthed on a nature reserve in England.
This ichthyosaur would have been some 33 feet (10 meters) long when it lived about 180 million years ago.
The behemoth is the biggest and most complete fossil of its kind ever discovered in the U.K.
“It is a truly unprecedented discovery and one of the greatest finds in British palaeontological history,” excavation leader Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist and visiting scientist at the University of Manchester, said in a statement.
Though many such ichthyosaurs have been found in the U.K., none have been as large as the current discovery.
Ichthyosaurs are an extinct order, or large group, of marine reptiles that evolved in the Triassic period about 250 million years ago and disappeared from the fossil record 90 million years ago, in the late Cretaceous period. They had long snouts and looked similar to modern-day dolphins.
The newly discovered fossil belonged to a large species of ichthyosaur called Temnodontosaurus trigonodon — the first time this species has appeared in the U.K. Joe Davis, a conservation team leader for the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, found the ichthyosaur on the Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the East Midlands in January 2021, according to the statement.
Davis was walking across a drained lagoon with Paul Trevor, who also works on the reserve for the trust when he saw what appeared to be clay pipes sticking out of the mud and remarked to Trevor that they looked like vertebrae.
Davis was familiar with sea creature bones, having previously found whale and dolphin skeletons while working on the Hebrides, a series of islands off northwest Scotland.
“We followed what indisputably looked like a spine and Paul [Trevor] discovered something further along that could have been a jawbone,” Davis said. “We couldn’t quite believe it.”
Archaeologists excavated the fossil between August and September in 2021.
The discovery will be featured on a British television series called “Digging for Britain,” which airs in the U.K. on Tuesday (Jan. 11) on BBC Two.
Archaeologists are still studying and conserving the ichthyosaur fossil and scientific papers about the discovery will be published in the future, according to the statement, though no timeframe was given.
