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Trove of ancient silver coins unearthed by metal detectorists sells for $5.6 million
Adam Staples knew he’d found something when his metal detector let out a beep. And then another. And another.
Soon “it was just ‘beep beep, beep beep, beep beep,'” Staples said.
In a farmer’s field in southwest England, Staples and six friends had found a hoard of more than 2,500 silver coins that had lain in the ground for almost 1,000 years. Valued at $5.6 million, or 4.3 million British pounds, and now bound for a museum, they will help shed light on the turbulent aftermath of the Norman conquest of England.
“The first one was a William the Conqueror coin — 1,000 pounds, 1,500 pounds’ value,” Staples said Tuesday at the British Museum, where the hoard will go on display in November. “It’s a really good find. It’s a find-of-the-year sort of discovery. And then we got another one, (we thought) there might be five, there might be 10.
“And it just got bigger and bigger,” he said — the biggest find in his 30 years of searching the fields and furrows of Britain as an amateur detectorist. In recent years, other large hoards of ancient coins and artifacts have been found in the country.
This hoard, discovered in 2019 and recently acquired by the South West Heritage Trust, totaled 2,584 silver pennies minted between 1066 and 1068, some showing conquering King William I and others his defeated Anglo-Saxon predecessor Harold II.
Michael Lewis, head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme — a government-funded project that records archaeological discoveries made by the public — said it is “one of the most spectacular discoveries” of recent years, especially because “its story is yet to be fully unraveled.”
Lewis said the coin hoard will help deepen understanding of the most famous date in English history: 1066, the year William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, replacing England’s Saxon monarchs with Norman French rulers.
“Most of us are taught about the Norman Conquest of England at school, probably because it was the last time that England was successfully conquered,” Lewis said. “But it’s a story based on certain myths,” such as the notion that the battle pitted “English versus French,” or “good” Saxons against “bad” Normans.
In fact, the warring families were interrelated, and Lewis said the hoard “helps us to tell a different story, one that is more nuanced.”
Though the invasion marked a historic schism, the coins in the hoard are remarkably similar whether they were minted before or after the conquest. One side shows a monarch’s head in profile, the other an emblem: an elaborate cross for William, the somewhat ironic word “pax” — peace — for Harold.
Amal Khreisheh, curator of archaeology at the South West Heritage Trust, said the coins were likely buried for safekeeping as local rebellions erupted against Norman rule.
“We know that the people of Exeter rebelled against William in 1068 and that Harold’s sons, who were in exile in Ireland, came back and started mounting attacks along the River Avon down into Somerset,” she said. “So it’s probably against that background they were hidden.”
The Chew Valley Hoard, named for the rural area where it was found, has been bought for the nation with money from the charitable arm of Britain’s national lottery. After going on display at the British Museum and other museums around the U.K., it will have a permanent home at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton, 130 miles southwest of London.
It has taken several years for the hoard to make its way through Britain’s system for handling amateur archaeological finds. The Treasure Act decrees that anyone who finds historic gold, silver or other precious items must inform the local coroner. If a coroner declares it treasure, the hoard will belong to the government, and museums can bid for funding to acquire it.
An expert committee sets a value on each find, with the money divided between the owner of the land and the finders. In this case, Staples and six fellow detectorists split half of the 4.3 million pound purse, with the other half going to the landowner. Staples told CBS News partner BBC News that he “got a few hundred thousand pounds out of it,” and used the money to buy a house. He plans on continuing his metal-detecting hobby.
“I’m going to live mortgage-free and hopefully have a bit more time to go and find something else,” Staples told BBC News.
CBS News
French bulldog dies on Alaska Airlines flight after downgrade to coach, lawsuit alleges
A French bulldog died on an Alaska Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco earlier this year after the pet and its owner were moved from first class to coach just before takeoff, a lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiff, Michael Contillo, claims his nearly four-year-old French bulldog, Ash, died “as a direct and foreseeable consequence of the wrongful conduct” of the airline after he was moved to another part of the plane, according to the complaint.
Contillo had bought first-class seats for himself and his father on a February 2024 flight so that his two French bulldogs could board early and have more space, alleges the suit, which was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on Oct. 16.
Along with purchasing tickets, Contillo had reserved space in first class for both dogs for an additional $100 each, according to the suit. He alleges that, although his dogs’ carriers complied with airline policies, just before the flight was set to prepare for take-off airline personnel asked him and his father to move from the fourth row in first class to a row in the main cabin “for safety purposes.”
Contillo protested, saying that moving the dogs would make them “very anxious,” leading to “extremely dangerous” breathing and heart problems, according to the complaint, which alleged that he told airline staff that the change could be lethal. The suit claims the pair’s new seats gave the dogs less space to breathe and that airline employees ignored their concerns.
Ash, the dog who died, “started breathing very quickly and heavily, with noticeable anxiety” just before takeoff, according to the lawsuit. The airline told Contillo that the dog’s carrier needed to be closed, and he complied with the request.
Contillo said he noticed Ash had stopped moving, but that he had to wait for the plane to ascend to a certain altitude before he could check on his pet. By the time Contillo disembarked in San Francisco, Ash was in rigor mortis, suggesting that he had died hours earlier, the suit claims.
“The entire flight crew, including the pilot, deboarded the plane and showed no sympathy for the plaintiff’s dog’s loss. No one stopped to show concern, offer condolences or show the slightest bit of compassion,” the lawsuit alleges.
Prior to the flight, Contillo had the two dogs evaluated, and both were determined fit to fly, the suit claims, noting that Ash was “a very healthy and active dog with no history of illness or surgeries.”
Contillo, who blames his dog’s death on the airline’s “unjustifiable” seat change, is suing Alaska Air for breach of contract, negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. He is seeking punitive damages to be determined at trial.
“Alaska Airlines employees should have known the requirements needed to avoid that happening,” the lawsuit states.
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