Bury St Edmunds hoard of Iron Age gold coins found

The collection of coins, known as the Bury St Edmunds Hoard, were found by Tom Licence, professor of medieval history and literature at the University of East Anglia, alongside his niece in autumn 2024.

It is believed to be the largest known hoard of Iron Age gold coins to be deposited during the reign of the Iron Age King Dubnovellaunos, who ruled the Trinovantes between 25BC and 10AD.

The largest known hoard of Iron Age gold coins, deposited during the reign of Iron Age King Dubnovellaunos (Image: Noonans Mayfair)

"The reason I went to this new field was because my niece was keen to go metal detecting, so I wanted to find a suitable location to take her," said Mr Licence.

"It was when I was there that I noticed that the field rose from a nearby stream in a gentle gradient and had dark silty soil, which was in a perfect condition on a dry October day, so I decided to use my trusty metal detector."

The Bury St Edmunds Hoard was found in autumn 2024 (Image: Noonans Mayfair)

Mr Licence, who was born in Essex but has family roots in the west Suffolk town, added: "Later that afternoon, I started to get signals and found two pieces of Viking hack silver.

"I continued searching and was astounded to find a gold stater, and after changing the settings and going up and down rows that I had marked out – I went into hunting mode and found another six staters."

Tom Licence, who has family roots in Bury St Edmunds (Image: Noonans Mayfair)

The items were declared as treasure after they were reported to the finds liaison officer.

It is expected the lots, which are being auctioned off by Noonans Mayfair, are expected to fetch in the region of £25,000.

The auction is taking place on Wednesday, March 4.

Mr Licence plans to use the money raised from the hoard to support archaeological work in Suffolk.

What other treasure has been found in Suffolk?

Suffolk is at the forefront of archaeological finds in the country, with research revealing it is second only to Norfolk in terms of new discoveries.

Recent examples of famous finds include the Helmingham Hoard, which was unearthed by George Ridgway in 2019.

The keen metal detectorist found a total of 748 coins at Helmingham Hall, with more than 680 going under the hammer in 2024.

The hoard fetched a total of £132,865.

However, the most famous collection is arguably the Hoxne Hoard.

Found in 1992, it is the largest amount of late Roman silver and gold ever discovered on British soil.