A treasure hunter has discovered the largest gold nugget ever found in England worth £30,000 – despite having a faulty metal detector.
Richard Brock, 67, travelled three-and-a-half hours from his home in Somerset to join an organised expedition on farmland in the Shropshire Hills.
On arrival he found he had difficulty with his detecting kit and had to resort to using a dodgy old machine which was not even working properly.
But moments later Richard, who has been metal detecting for 35 years, discovered the biggest find of his life – after unearthing a 64.8g golden nugget.
Named ‘Hiro’s Nugget’, the metal lump is now set to fetch at least £30,000 at auction as it’s believed to be the biggest find of its kind on English soil.
A treasure hunter has discovered the largest gold nugget ever found in England worth £30,000 – despite having a faulty metal detector
Named ‘Hiro’s Nugget’, the metal lump is now set to fetch at least £30,000 at auction as it’s believed to be the biggest find of its kind on English soil
Dad-of-four Richard said: ‘I have been detecting since 1989 and decided to join the trip as a similar previous one to Australia was cancelled during the pandemic.
‘So I drove three-and-a-half hours to Shropshire and I actually arrived about an hour late, thinking I’d missed the action.
‘Everyone there had all this up-to-date kit and I bowled up with three old machines, and one of them packed in there and then.
‘At first I just found a few rusty old tent pegs with this back-up detector which had a fading screen display.
‘But after only 20 minutes of scanning the ground I found this nugget buried about five of six inches down in the ground.
‘I was a perhaps bit too honest and started showing people, and then all of a sudden I had swarms of other detectorists scanning the same area.
After only 20 minutes of scanning the ground I found this nugget buried about five of six inches down in the ground,’ Richard said
Richard, who has been metal detecting for 35 years, discovered the biggest find of his life – after unearthing a 64.8g golden nugget
‘The machine I was using was pretty much kaput – it was only half working. It just goes to show that it doesn’t really matter what equipment you use.
‘If you are walking over the find and are alert enough to what might be lurking underneath the soil, that makes all the difference.
‘I couldn’t believe it – I turned up late, was only there a matter of minutes and this treasure hunting expedition was supposed to last all day.
‘I couldn’t look for anything else as I had the land owner, the organiser of the dig and every other detectorist around me trying to get a look at this nugget.’
Just what a gold nugget was doing in the Shropshire Hills, near Much Wenlock, remains somewhat of a mystery.
But parts such as the Wenlock Edge is an ancient landscape which was once under a prehistoric ocean and hunters often find remnants of coral in the area.
There was also large amount of rock which originally came from Wales – a country known to be rich in gold.
Richard’s discovery was made on a site believed to have been an old track or road with railway lines running through, containing stone possibly distributed from Wales.
The only previous bigger examples in Britain have been found in either Wales and Scotland.
The Douglas Nugget found in Perthshire weighed 85.7g, another from the shores of Anglesey weighed 97.12g and The Reunion Nugget found in Scotland in 2019 weighed 121.3g.
Just what a gold nugget was doing in the Shropshire Hills, near Much Wenlock, remains somewhat of a mystery
Richard’s discovery was made on a site believed to have been an old track or road with railway lines running through, containing stone possibly distributed from Wales
Parts such as the Wenlock Edge is an ancient landscape which was once under a prehistoric ocean and hunters often find remnants of coral in the area
Retired cameraman Richard added: ‘Upon doing some research, we could only find bigger than this in Wales and Scotland
‘The last one which claimed to be bigger in England was 54 grams but mine is 64.8 grams, so we’re pretty confident its the biggest found on English soil.
‘I did contact the finds liaison officer and they were happy for me to do with it what I wanted, so I thought I would try selling it at auction.
‘I’m going to split whatever it sells for with the land owner. I found it last May but I’ve only recently learned it could be the biggest – it is quite incredible really.’
Auctioneers Mullock Jones is offering the nugget for sale in a timed auction which began last weekend and runs until April 1 with an estimate of £30,000.
Ben Jones, of the auctioneers, said: ‘We are expecting considerable interest in this item. It is a rare opportunity to acquire a stunning golden nugget.
‘We are offering it as a single item to on-line bidders from from Friday March 15 and ending at 6pm on 1st April.’
The only previous bigger examples in Britain have been found in either Wales and Scotland
Ben Jones, of the auctioneers, said: ‘We are expecting considerable interest in this item. It is a rare opportunity to acquire a stunning golden nugget’
THE TREASURE ACT OF 1996
Pictured: a treasure is found (stock image)
Under the UK’s 1996 Treasure Act, finders of potential treasure are obligated to report their discoveries to the local coroner within a timeframe of 14 days.
The British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme works to advise treasure finders of their legal obligations alongside writing reports for coroners on each individual discovery and running the administration for the Treasure disclamation process.
The Treasure Act facilitates the purchasing of finds by both national and local museums for the public benefit — with a reward from such typically given and split between the finder and the landowner.
The size of the rewards are equal to the full market value of the finds, as determined by the Secretary of State, following guidance from an independent panel of experts called the ‘Treasure Valuation Committee’.
The act also helps to guide what is and isn’t considered as treasure — with the final determination for individual items made at an inquest.
At present, the following, for example, are defined as treasures:
- Finds of two of more 300-years-or-older coins from the same location, unless they contain less than 10 per cent gold or silver, in which case there must be at least 10 in the find to qualify as a treasure.
- Two or more prehistoric base metal objects found in association.
- Any non-coin artefact that is at least 300 years old and contains at least 10 per cent gold or silver.
- Any object found in the same place as another treasure.
- Deliberately hidden objects whose owners or heirs are unknown that are less than 300 years old but are made predominantly of gold or silver.
However, following a public consultation last year, a new definition is to be developed in the future — one which will account for the cultural and historical significance of a find, rather than just its material qualities.
