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Lad digs up ÂŁ160k in coins
By TOM WELLS
August 28, 2007
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
A LABOURER will soon be quids in after finding a hoard of 500-year-old gold coins.
Lucky Jason Clarke, 19, helped uncover 204 Angel and half-Angel coins while digging a drainage ditch.
The coins were in circulation in 1510 — and experts at top auction house Sotheby’s say the collection is worth at least £160,000.
Each coin would be worth up to £1,000 on the open market — but Jason will have to hand them over to the Crown under treasure trove laws.
But he still stands to pick up around ÂŁ40,000 from the Government as a reward.
Jason’s boss could also land £40,000, while the owner of the home in Burford, Gloucs, where the work was being carried out is likely to receive £80,000.
Golden boy ... Jason
Jason, of Great Coxwell, Oxon, said: “I was astonished.
“We were using a mechanical digger and the boss was controlling it while I was on the ground. Then we both spotted a glint of gold. The hole was full of coins.
“I scrabbled around and kept finding more and more. I ended up filling a bag full of them.”
Jason, who still lives at home, plans to use the cash to help buy a flat.
Dad Trevor, 67, said: “It’s a great find.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007390909,00.html
By TOM WELLS
August 28, 2007
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
A LABOURER will soon be quids in after finding a hoard of 500-year-old gold coins.
Lucky Jason Clarke, 19, helped uncover 204 Angel and half-Angel coins while digging a drainage ditch.
The coins were in circulation in 1510 — and experts at top auction house Sotheby’s say the collection is worth at least £160,000.
Each coin would be worth up to £1,000 on the open market — but Jason will have to hand them over to the Crown under treasure trove laws.
But he still stands to pick up around ÂŁ40,000 from the Government as a reward.
Jason’s boss could also land £40,000, while the owner of the home in Burford, Gloucs, where the work was being carried out is likely to receive £80,000.
Golden boy ... Jason
Jason, of Great Coxwell, Oxon, said: “I was astonished.
“We were using a mechanical digger and the boss was controlling it while I was on the ground. Then we both spotted a glint of gold. The hole was full of coins.
“I scrabbled around and kept finding more and more. I ended up filling a bag full of them.”
Jason, who still lives at home, plans to use the cash to help buy a flat.
Dad Trevor, 67, said: “It’s a great find.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007390909,00.html
