Rare coins 'buried in 1066' and found in Essex field ready to be sold for £180,000

RARE coins believed to have been buried in 1066 – the year of the Battle of Hastings – are expected to sell for £180,000.

The 122 Anglo-Saxon pennies were in a hoard dated 144 – worth 12 shillings 950 years ago – found by two metal detectorists in a field in Essex in 2019 and 2020.

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One silver coin was discovered only 4 inches deep.

Auctioneer Bradley Hopper said the owner may have been killed in the struggle.

He added: 'Twelve shillings was a considerable sum.

'The retrieval must have been prevented by a major personal accident.

“We can't say for sure that the owner of the treasure died in Hastings – but it is a tempting possibility.”

Museums bought 16 of the coins found near Braintree.

And 122 others – including a cent from Harold II – will go under the hammer in London next one week.

The profit goes to the finders and the field owner.