An extremely rare and well-preserved 17th century coin was found by an amateur treasure hunter last week in a field in Nottinghamshire, England, the Daily Mail reported.
John Stoner, 42, dug up a 1652 silver three-penny coin on Aug. 31, a piece that has been hailed as one of the finest examples of currency produced in the days of the Pilgrim Fathers, as he ploughed the field in the village of King’s Clipstone.
On Monday, coin expert Peter Spencer confirmed it was a genuine three-penny piece, commissioned and struck in Boston, Mass.
“I handed it over to him and I think it’s fair to say he went white as a ghost,” Stoner said. “He said its condition was like the day it was struck.”
The single coin is not subject to treasure trove laws that require such finds be reported and handed to Crown officials. The coin is now reportedly in the United States and being cleaned by an expert before it will be auctioned for sale in London in December.
In 2012, a silver Colonial Massachusetts coin from 1652 that was found in a potato field was auctioned for $430,000. Stoner’s coin could bring in $1.7 million.
