Was This Some Kind Of Joke?
Eric can feel his heartbeat in his throat. Was this a joke? Had he been set up? When his metal detector beeped, indicating him something was buried in the field, he expected to uncover the hammer he had been looking for. But this was something else.
As his fingers claw at the dirty soil, he knew he had to find out more. He wipes his forehead with his arm and then right there and then, he saw it. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to find this.
At One With Nature
For retired farmer Eric, he often spent his free time out on his land. There was nothing he loved more than watching the sunrise while clutching a cup of tea and breathing in all that nature has to offer.
But then one day, Eric’s world turned upside down. And nothing was ever the same again.
Keeping Busy
For his birthday Eric received a metal detector. So, when he received a call from his farmer friend, asking to help him look for a missing hammer on his field, Eric knew he couldn’t turn him down.
Armed with determination and his metal detector, Eric set off to search for the missing hammer. But he had no idea what was coming.
About To Give Up
Eric had been searching the grounds for 30 minutes and still, he had not found the hammer. With each step he took, Eric let out a sigh. He was normally able to find things. So what was so different today?
And then, just as he was about to give up completely, his detector pinged. And a terrible feeling hit the pit of his stomach.
Something Else
Eric thought he had managed to find the hammer, and for a brief moment, he reveled in excitement and started to dig into the ground.
But as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and dug deeper into the earth, suddenly Eric realized this was no hammer. It was something else.
A Collection Of Coins
Strangely enough, Eric felt a coin in the ground, and then soon, he felt another. What were these doing down here?
10 minutes had passed and Eric had managed to fill two grocery bags full of silver spoons and gold coins! He was speechless. What was all this treasure doing here? He had no idea the discovery was about to change his life.
Calling For Help
Eric whipped out his phone and called the experts. He had to find out the answers to the hundreds of questions running through his mind.
He called the person who owned the plot, the police, and also the Suffolk Archaeological Society. And soon enough, all would be revealed. And nothing would ever be the same again.
Getting Straight To Work
Everybody arrived at the scene and were all super interested and excited about what Eric had uncovered. They had never seen anything like this before!
Straight away, the archeological society sent out a team to attempt to clear the rest of the site. They were adamant this location had much more to offer. And they were so right.
More And More
As soon as the team started digging, they knew this site was something special.
They excitedly piled up their finds and was just about to send them to the lab to be properly extracted, when the team noticed something strange. Their discoveries just kept growing and growing. More was still to be uncovered!
An Incredible Amount
In total 60 pounds of gold and silver were discovered! And incredibly, there was still more to come!
The treasure consisted of more than 15,000 Roman coins, hundreds of silver spoons, and numerous gold objects. But questions still lingered in the air as the archaeologists reveled in excitement at their find. Where did these coins come from?
The Truth Is Revealed
The team later found out that the Roman coins were buried in 450 AD. During this time, Roman leadership recruited troops from Britain to help stop invaders from taking over Roman land in Europe. But those in Britain were at risk. So to keep their valuables safe, they buried them. Once things were back to normal, the locals returned to their secret spots and collected the buried treasure. But not everyone was lucky enough to get back their buried items.
Now that the team’s questions had been answered there was still one more thing that picked at Eric’s curiosity. How much was his discovery actually worth? And would he be given a cut of the cheque?
A Very Happy Ending
In recognition of Eric’s discovery and willingness to contact authorities, the British government rewarded him with over $2.1 million!
Eric shared the amount with the farmer who owned the land where the treasure was discovered. And believe it or not, Eric did manage to find the lost hammer!