According to Kent Online, approximately 35 gold coins were excavated by Tony Asquith in Lenham, Maidstone, Kent, England, in August 2022.
These coins were discovered alongside a flint stone believed to have formed 70 to 90 million years ago. This stone was restored before being auctioned on September 18 at Noonans Mayfair auction house on Bolton Street, London.
The treasure was expected to fetch £20,000 (approximately 652 million VND) but ultimately sold for £103,500 (around 3.3 billion VND).
Tony will split the proceeds with the landowner but has not disclosed how he plans to spend this amount.
Roman coins hidden in a flint stone. (Photo: Tony Asquith).
Nigel Mills, a coin and artifact expert at Noonans, mentioned that Tony discovered the “treasure” using a Minelab Equinox 800 detector.
He stated: “Tony initially found some wires and a box of ammunition. However, he then received a signal from a brown coin. He was very surprised to realize this was a stater from the Celts.
When he looked down, Tony saw many brown coins emerging. Upon wearing his glasses, Tony realized they were all Celtic gold coins.
Coins found in a newly plowed field. (Photo: Tony Asquith).
All of them feature a shallow dome-shaped obverse and a disc-shaped reverse, depicting an abstract horse or one galloping to the right with the arm of the charioteer above.
Ten gold coins from the Iron Age have been found in England, but all are currently displayed in museums.
A Gallo-Belgic stater decorated with an image of the god Apollo on one side and a stylized horse with charioteer on the other fetched the highest price.
It was estimated to sell for between £500-700 but attracted a bid of up to £7,500.
Meanwhile, another Gallo-Belgic stater featuring a stylized horse sold for £6,500, with predictions it would bring in between £600 and £800.
