A metal detectorist has discovered up to 15,000 Roman coins, which could be the biggest hoard ever discovered in Wales, the BBC reported on Thursday.
David Moss, 36, from Cheshire, was left in disbelief and said he had “goosebumps” after digging up two clay pots in north Wales.
But the epic find left him fearing they could be stolen, so he slept with them in his car for three days before taking them to experts.
The coins are now in the safe hands of the National Museum Cardiff where they will be analyzed, BBC said.
While not wanting to give specific details of where he found them, David described the area as a “virtually untouched” area of north Wales.
“You're talking from the times of the druids and the Vikings right through to the Romans,” he said. “I just find it fascinating. It's an area that I'll be interested in for the rest of my life.”
There have been several coin “hoards” found over the years, usually deliberately buried and never recovered, typically during periods of turmoil or as a religious offering to the gods.
National Museum Cardiff said the largest hoard its team was aware of was one of 10,000 coins found near Chepstow in the 1990s.
David has been metal detecting for nearly a decade and so far has uncovered about 2,700 Roman coins.
But he believes the two pots he discovered in August, with his friend Ian Nicholson, contain between 10,000 and 15,000 coins.
“A rainbow appeared minutes before the signal was found,” he said. “I couldn't believe it.”
The pair then spent six-and-a-half hours excavating the coins.
David notified the landowner, who gave him a plastic box to keep them in. He then drove back to his home in Chester, and ended up sleeping with them in his car.
“I just didn't want to leave it out my sight,” he said.
Anthony Halse, chairman of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Numismatic Society, believes the haul could have belonged to a member of the Roman army, or multiple members, who buried the coins for safekeeping.
