A rare gold coin from the 14th century fetched a staggering amount at an auction in Mayfair, London last week.
According to a press release from the auction house Dix Noonan Webb, the gold coin featuring a leopard sitting upright and holding a banner was sold for £140,000, approximately $185,000, to a private buyer in the UK on March 8.
Rare 14th-century coin fetched $185,000 at auction. (Photo: Dix Noonan Webb)
The auction house stated that the artifact dates back to January 1344 and was only in circulation for seven months before being recalled. It has a denomination of 3 shillings or 36 pence, equivalent to a month’s salary for an average person at that time. King Edward III issued this special coin to facilitate trade with Europe.
“It is in very good condition, and only 5 such coins still exist,” emphasized Nigel Mills, a consultant at Dix Noonan Webb.
The coin was discovered by 65-year-old Andy Carter, a retired scientist, while metal detecting in a field in Norfolk, England, in 2019. Speaking to Insider, Carter expressed his luck, noting that around 30 other people were also metal detecting in the field that day.
“Only three of us persisted in searching, while the others packed up and left. I found the coin caked in mud about 25 cm deep in the ground,” Carter recounted. “When I wiped off the mud, the image of a large cat appeared. I called in an expert to check it, and he was astonished.”
With the life-changing amount received from the auction, Carter could not hide his excitement and mentioned he would share a portion with the landowner where he found the coin.
