Ludlow man stands to net £15,000 after civil war coins are declared treasure. (From Ludlow Advertiser)
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Ludlow man stands to net £15,000 after civil war coins are declared treasure
2:42pm Friday 6th July 2012 in News
WHEN metal detector enthusiast Howard Murphy discoverd a hoard of coins in a south Shropshire field he knew he'd found something special.
Now he stands to receive about half of the £30,000 estimated value of the collection, comprising 137 silver coins and one gold.
The 66-year-old from Ludlow regularly visits Bitterley where the coins were discovered in February 2011.
"I got a signal so I stuck in the fork to see what it was," he said.
"It could have been anything, even just a piece of silver foil. Straight away, a silver coin flipped up and I thought my luck was in."
The hoard has been declared treasure by coroner for Shropshire John Ellery and will now be formerly valued.
Emma-Kate Lanyon, head of collections and curatorial services for Shropshire Museums, which hopes to acquire the coins, said it had "thrown light on a dark and turbulent period in our recent history."
