Rare Edward III 23-carat gold coins lost after the Black Death are found by metal detectorist in Norfolk town
- The rare coins were discovered in a town in Norfolk by a metal detectorist
- Called a leopard and noble, the coins were thought to have disappeared
- They date back to the 1300s - around the time of the deadly Bubonic Plague Two historic and very rare gold coins thought to have been lost in the Black Death has been found by a metal detectorist.
The 23-carat gold coin, called a leopard was found alongside an Edward III golden coin near Reepham, Norfolk.
The leopard was withdrawn within months of it being minted in 1344 and according to finds liaison officer Helen Geake, hardly any of the coins have survived.
The coins were discovered by a metal detectorist in Reepham, Norfolk in October 2019
The coins would be worth the equivalent of £12,000 in terms of today's currency, and would have been owned by someone 'at the top of society', she told the BBC.
'For some reason, they didn't catch on, but when one or two pennies were the equivalent of a day's wages at today's minimum wage rate, perhaps very few people used them,' she said.
Called a florin, leopard and a helm, the coinage was an attempt by King Edward III to produce a gold coin suitable to be used in Europe as well as in England.
But, the gold used to strike the coins was overvalued, which resulted in them being unacceptable to the public.
Within months, they were melted down to produce the more popular gold noble, worth six shillings and eight pence.
The coin was discovered alongside a rare Edward III noble, thought to date between 1351 and 1352, while the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, was ravaging Europe.
The coins were thought to be lost after the Norman Conquest, as the only coins in circulation were silver pennies.
Dr Geake said no one really knows why Edward III decided to reintroduce the first gold coins in England since the Anglo-Saxon era.
The coin was discovered alongside a rare Edward III noble, thought to date between 1351/52
The find shows that the leopard, worth three shillings at the time, was in circulation for longer than historians have previously believed.
But, after looking at the circumstances at the time, they realised that it coincided with the Black Death reaching England in 1348 - a 'cataclysmic' event which saw coinage issues drop in priority.
'Usually the authorities would be keen to remove a withdrawn coin as soon as possible,' Dr Geake said.
The coins were discovered by a metal detectorist in October 2019.
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