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The gold coins dating back to the late 15th century were discovered by someone weeding their garden in Hampshire, as coronavirus lockdowns in the UK led to a spike in hobbyist finds.
The total value of the coins far exceeds the average annual salary in the Tudor period, according to experts.
They are among more than 47,000 discoveries recorded in the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) this year, including a fitting for Roman furniture and an alleged medieval forgery of a bishop’s seal matrix.
It is said that all the treasure was worth more than the average salary at the time
The PAS recorded 6,251 finds during the first lockdown, when metal detection was banned and enthusiasts began searching for treasures closer to home.
The scheme said that the coins found in Hampshire included 63 gold and one silver. They were unearthed in the New Forest area and are believed to have been deposited around 1540.
Searchers had been pulling weeds from his garden, according to the report.
The hoard dates back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries and includes four coins from the reign of Henry VIII.
They unusually feature the initials of three of the infamous monarch’s wives, Catherine of Aragon, Ana Bolena and Jane Seymour, the British Museum said.
Coins dating from the apartheid era in South Africa were found in Milton Keynes
Elsewhere, a collection of 50 gold coins from apartheid South Africa was discovered in a Milton Keynes garden.
The 1 oz Krugerrand coins were minted by the Rand refinery in Germiston in the 1970s, according to the report.
It is unclear how they ended up in Milton Keynes and a coroner will need to determine whether the original owner of the coins, or the heirs, are known.
The British Museum said it hopes a public appeal will lead to someone submitting information.
Roman furniture fitting found in Hampshire
At Old Basing, Hampshire, a Roman copper alloy furniture fitting was found, dating from around AD 43-200. C.
It is decorated with what experts describe as the “remarkably well-preserved face” of the Ocean god and includes “intricate” kelp fronds that frame the god’s face, beard and mustache.
In addition, a lead alloy medieval seal matrix in the name of David, Bishop of St Andrews, was discovered in Dursley, Gloucestershire.
The pointed oval matrix shows the bishop, identified as the 13th century clergyman David of Bernham, standing in his robes, with a staff in his left hand.
The Latin inscription reads “David, messenger of God, Bishop of St Andrews”.
High-status stamps are usually made of copper alloy or even silver, experts said, suggesting that the matrix is a contemporary forgery.
The lead alloy sealing die found in Dursley, Gloucestershire.
Searchers have to report potential treasure to the local coroner under the Treasury Act of 1996.
The British Museum also announced that 81,602 archaeological finds were recorded in 2019, an increase of more than 10,000 from the previous year and bringing the total in the PAS database to more than 1.5 million objects.
Michael Lewis, director of PAS and British Museum Treasury, said: “Even at this time, through the COVID-19 pandemic, our team of finds liaison officers have continued to communicate with metal detectors and others to ensure that finds, important to understanding Britain’s past, are not lost, but are recorded for posterity. “
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