Hoard of 50,000 Celtic And Roman Coins Found In Jersey

And Not New Jersey for those of you who skipped your history class and were wondering....

UPI.Com: Roman, Celtic coin hoard worth $15 million

Archaeologists in Britain say a hoard of Roman and Celtic coins worth $15 million has been unearthed on the island of Jersey.

Two metal detector enthusiasts found the hoard, dated to the 1st century B.C. and described by experts as "extremely exciting and very significant."

The hoard weighed about three-quarters of a ton and could contain about 50,000 coins.

Each individual coin is worth between $150 and $300, Philip de Jersey, a former Celtic coin expert at Oxford University, told the BBC.

Metal detector hobbyists Reg Mead and Richard Miles said they had been searching for more than 30 years after hearing rumors a farmer had discovered silver coins while working on his land in the east of Jersey.

Talk about an awesome find. 50,000 Celtic and Roman coins found in a farmer's field.

UPI has a nice picture of the removed earth mound with the coins exposed.

One can only hope that they will release them for public sale after they've cleaned and cataloged them and as I'd love to add a coin from such a trove to my collection.

It should be interesting to see the types of coins that were found and the latest Roman emperor in the batch to give an idea as to the date when they were buried. I hope that they do release a report identifying the coins and how many of each type was found in the hoard.

A cool story of two hobbyists' determined search for treasure beneath the earth.

Thanks to dive buddy Rob G. for the heads up on the story.