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- A man who gave up his metal detector hobby for a decade to focus on his children found an 800-year-old coin worth $878K on his first day back
- The man’s kids encouraged him to take his hobby back up so he got a new metal detector and found the rare gold coin that he just sold at auction for a fortune
- Read more interesting Weird News articles on BroBible right here
Growing up on Siesta Key, Florida I used to see old guys walking the beach with metal detectors nearly every single day. In Florida, people with metal detectors are generally looking for things like lost jewelry but across the pond in Europe the game is different. Over there they can find priceless artifacts that are a LOT older than the USA has even existed as a country.
A man by the name of Michael Leigh-Mallory just hit the metal detector jackpot. He found the oldest gold coin in England (dates back to 1217) and it is the first one of these coins found in 260 years, a Henry III gold coin!
Michael used to be an avid metal detector hobbyist until he had children and gave up his hobby to focus on being a father. A decade later and once his children grew up (10 and 13) they encouraged their father who is an ecologist and amateur historian to rediscover his passion. That’s when the universe handsomely rewarded him for being a great day and on his VERY FIRST DAY back after a decade off he found the 800-year-old Henry III gold coin that was minted somewhere between 1217 and 1272.
The coin was auctioned off by Spink London / Spink Auctions, an auction house in London that has been in operation since 1666. And according to Metro UK, this is the first Henry III gold coin that has been found in 260 years! That’s before the United States even became a country, for anyone keeping score.
Naturally, a coin this rare and historically significant fetched an absolute fortune at auction. It sold last week for a record-breaking price of $878,778 (£648,000) after fees.
Man Using Metal Detector Finds Henry III Gold Coin Worth $878K
Here are some Instagram pictures of the $878K Henry III gold coin and a YouTube video shared by Spink Auctions.
Until now, only 7 of these Henry III gold coins were known to exist (now 8). Miraculously, he found the record-breaking coin buried just 4 inches deep in the ground while playing with his metal detector in the Devon village of Hemyock, according to The Guardian.
The land (village of Hemyock) where he found this gold coin wasn’t owned by Michael Leigh-Mallory but he did have permission to be there. Nevertheless, he plans to split his earnings with the owner of the land. And after the coin sold for a record amount at auction, he actually went to visit the tomb of Henry III which is located at Westminster Abbey “to pay his respects and offer thanks for his good fortune” according to The Guardian.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it hurts to see someone else living your dream. I’d really love to just find a gold coin worth nearly a million dollars sitting in the mud somewhere. Is that really too much to ask from the universe?