Coin haul a treasure for Bristol pensioner

A Bristol pensioner has unearthed a total of 44 Roman coins from a farm in South Gloucestershire using his metal detector.

David Upton, 65, found 16 of the coins on October 23, 2008, when searching with his metal detector on ploughed land in Hambrook.

In 1998, Mr Upton, of Ryecroft Road, Filton, had discovered 28 of the same type of coin, from AD 260 to 274, in the same spot.

This week, at Flax Bourton Coroner's Court, assistant deputy coroner Terry Moore, declared that the latest coins were old enough and valuable enough to qualify as treasure.

Mr Upton, who worked as a fitter for Rolls Royce for 18 years, discovered the treasure on farmland in Harry Stoke.

The single man, who has no children, has been doing metal detecting with his £500 detector for 30 years, and at his home he has drawers filled with Medieval rings, jewellery and brooches.

But Mr Upton recently had to take a break from metal detecting, while he fought bladder cancer. He told the Bristol Evening Post: "I like going out metal detecting on my own, not knowing what I'm going to find. It's become an important hobby.

"When I find the time I like going out for three or four hours metal detecting, but I haven't done this for a while though as I've just got over bladder cancer."

After finding the coins, Mr Upton went to staff at the Bristol Museum, who took the objects to the British Museum in London.

The coroner's court heard that the coins are similar to many Romano-British coin hoards buried in the aftermath of the breakaway Gallic Empire. About 200 of these coins have so far been recorded.

The court heard that Kurt Adams, finds liaison officer for Gloucestershire and Avon, believed that Mr Upton's new find was similar to the 28 coins found in 1998.

The 1998 find was declared treasure at an inquest held in November 1999 and was acquired by Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

The coins are currently being held by the British Museum, but Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery will have the option of acquiring them.

Mr Upton will receive a percentage of what the coins are worth, as will the landowner, whose identity was not revealed in court. It could take up to 12 months to determine the value of the coins, and the percentage to be returned to Mr Upton. He did not reveal the amount he received from his previous find.

Objects must be more than 300 years old to qualify as treasure.

Concluding the inquest, Mr Moore said: "Based on the balance of probability, I am satisfied that these coins belong together, and that these coins are over 300 years old. The 16 coins qualify as treasure under section one of the Treasure Act."

In reaction to the coins being declared as treasure, Mr Upton said: "It's quite good. I'm proud of myself for finding them. Many people who find important objects don't tell the farmer, but it's important that they do."