Two lucky ones have found the biggest treasure of the Iron Age, which they have been looking for for 30 years

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In 2012, two treasure hunters in the British Isles, Red Mead and Richard Miles, discovered the largest treasure of the Iron Age. For the long thirty years of their lives, Mead and Miles devoted themselves to the search for this treasure. In the cache, which was named Catillon II and which dates back to 50 BC, 69,347 Celtic coins were found. Why is it that such an important and large find in the history of Jersey archeology has been recognized by the world scientist community only now?

For the first time, Red and Richard learned about the cache from the daughter of a local farmer. She told them how she and her father found several coins, which they mistook for silver buttons when they were planting potatoes. The little girl did not know what tremendous value these old "buttons" are. She just traded them for comics!

Meanwhile, according to today's estimates, the coins found by the researchers are worth 10 million pounds, which is just over 13 million dollars! Not a bad pay, even for thirty years of work. But Catillon II, having lain on the island of Jersey for many centuries at a depth of less than a meter underground, belongs to the British crown.

For more than two thousand years, the coins have turned into a single monolithic stone. Each coin found, had to be extracted separately. Experts from Jersey Heritage, Société Jersiaise and Guernsey Museum spent three whole years on this painstaking work. Now part of the find is on display at La Hougue Bie Museum. In 2017, Miles and Mead were interviewed by BBC News.

In their words: “We found a pot on the tree line. Having studied the ancient maps, we saw that it was here that the border once passed. When we found the first coin, we realized that our search was finally crowned with success. By the end of the day, we had already found 20 coins. Gradually, the score began to grow."

In addition to coins, treasure hunters found a large number of gold necklaces and other jewelry. Also found were glass beads, a leather wallet and a woven bag with silver and gold. The first question that scientists asked themselves: who hid these treasures?

Ancient Celtic and Roman coins, according to historians, were buried by the Celts during their escape during the invasion of the troops of the Roman Empire. It is assumed that the fugitives sailed across the sea to the island of Jersey in order to find a suitable secluded place. The find surpassed the other largest treasure in England. It was discovered in 1978 in Wiltshire. There were 54 thousand copper coins. Now Catillon II is deservedly awarded the palm of the largest UK treasure and is included in the Guinness Book of Records.

It took more than 40 years to surpass the previous find. Jersey Heritage archaeologist Olga Finch believes the find is useful for understanding the island's history during the Iron Age. Olga told the BBC: “I am extremely pleased that such an impressive treasure has been found. That all these archaeological values have been excavated, researched and exhibited in the museum. This is, without a doubt, a world-class historical heritage. It's nice that Jersey has something to offer world history."

It was only thanks to the persistence of two stubborn treasure hunters, Mead and Miles, that this amazing find was discovered. Researchers believe that finding buried treasures is more than just a curious hobby. This is their life's work and we see what exciting results can be obtained by following their dreams! If you are interested in the topic of the history of ancient Britain, read about its most romantic page in our article recently discovered treasure of Queen Boudicca.