A museum is to become the new home to what is believed to be the largest collection of 7th Century gold coins found in Britain.

Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery in Norfolk has acquired the hoard which is made up of 129 coins and includes 118 different coin designs and 51 different European mints.

The hoard was discovered by two metal detectorists in a west Norfolk farmer's field between 2014 and 2020.

Charles Bingham-Newland, chair of the Friends of the Norwich Museums, said: "The hoard will add immeasurably to our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period."

The museum has been able to acquire the hoard with funding by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and The Wolfson Foundation.

The collection is believed to most contain Frankish tremisses which were minted in the Merovingian Frankish kingdoms that occupied modern-day France, Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries.

They are said to be the first coins made and used in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and predate the first gold coinage made in Anglo-Saxon England.

The find is one of only eight hoards of this type of coin known from Europe and the third in the United Kingdom.

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Castle acquires largest Anglo-Saxon gold coin hoard (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qgn9egd7eo)