When his children were old enough to nag him, he decided to pick up metal detecting again, and eventually scored a remarkable find – one of England’s oldest gold coins, which has just sold at auction for a record-breaking $878,778.
Rare gold coin
According to Business Insider, Michael Leigh-Mallory, a 52-year-old ecologist and amateur historian from Devon, discovered the rare gold coin in a field and was urged by the British Museum to take it there. The last one was discovered 260 years ago, and it’s one of only eight in existence.
This coin depicts the bearded and crowned Henry III on his throne, and 52,000 of them were made. Almost all of these coins were melted down due to the fact that their value was less than their weight in gold and they were unprofitable. There are only eight known examples of Leigh-Mallory.
The coin, which was made of North African gold, was produced during the reign of Henry III, who reigned as King of England from 1217 to 1272.
When Leigh-Mallory and his family sold the coin at Spink and Sons auctioneers in London last week, it gave them immense joy in addition to a record hammer price of £540,000 ($878,778). Insider reported that Spink told them the sale price made it the most valuable coin ever sold in the United Kingdom.
Thanks for the good fortune
Leigh-Mallory paid a visit to Henry III’s tomb in Westminster Abbey to express his gratitude for his good fortune and to pay his respects to the monarch, The Guardian reported. He described himself as “just a typical person who lives in Devon with his family,” thus this is a truly life-changing quantity of money that will be used to help them plan for their future lives.
Leigh-Mallory stated that he intends to continue metal detecting, but that he does not anticipate coming across anything as expensive as the diamond. However, it is not about money. It all comes down to making connections with their past.
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