A picture of a man and a broken earthen pot filled with coins is doing rounds on social media platforms claiming that he found Roman coins on his first-ever treasure hunt.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption saying, “STRIKE IT LUCKY: Nick Davies, an amateur metal detector enthusiast, found this amazing haul of 10,000 Roman coins on his first-ever treasure hunt!The silver and bronze ‘nummi’ coins, dating from between 240AD and 320AD, were discovered in a farmer’s field near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. Finder Nick Davies, 30, was on his first treasure hunt when he discovered the coins, mostly crammed inside a buried 70lb clay pot. Experts say the coins have spent an estimated 1,700 years underground. His amazing find is one of the largest collections of Roman coins ever discovered in Shropshire. And the haul could be put on display at Shrewsbury’s new £10million heritage center, it was revealed today. It is also the biggest collection of Roman coins to be found in Britain this year. Nick, from Ford, Shropshire, said he never expected to find anything on his first treasure hunt – especially anything of any value. He recalled the discovery and described it as ‘fantastically exciting’.”
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post and found the claim to be misleading.
With the help of the Reverse Image Search, we found the same image in a BBC report that was published on September 16, 2009. “Hoard of 10,000 Roman coins found,” read the headline.
According to the report, officials of Shropshire Council’s Museum said that 10,000 coins believed to be from 320 AD to 340 AD were found in a large storage jar.
We found another BBC report published on October 25, 2011, stating that Roman coins discovered by Nic Davies have been declared treasure at an inquest in Shropshire. The Treasure Valuation Committee was to decide how the value of the hoard should be split between the owner of the land and Nick.
Daily Mail also published a report on this in 2009
Therefore, it can be concluded that the incident that happened in 2009 is being shared as recent.
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