Anglo-Saxon Æthelberht II coin sold for £78,000 at Dix Noonan Webb auction

A unique Anglo-Saxon silver penny which provides a clue to the murder of an East Anglian king and which was found in a Sussex field by a metal detectorist fetched an impressive £78,000 at a recent Dix Noonan Webb in London.

The price paid for the 1,200 year-old coin by an internet bidder was far above the pre-sale estimate of £15,000 to £20,000.

Darrin Simpson, the 48 year-old metal detectorist from Eastbourne, Sussex who found the coin, said: ‘It’s fantastic, an amazing result. I am really quite shocked.’

He will give half the money to the Sussex farmer who owns the field where the coin was found and another quarter to the three friends who were detecting with him when he discovered it in early March this year.

Read more about the coin and its history in our recent news story.

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