THE British Museum has been overruled by a coroner who has declared that a "very rare" Roman coin unearthed by a Chilmark metal detectorist is not treasure.

The silver Denarius coin was found in September 2015 on farmland at Aldham, near Hadleigh, by Jonathan Brooks.

Last year an inquest had to be adjourned after Mr Brooks said he wanted to challenge any treasure ruling, which would have seen the coin become available to the British Museum.

The British Museum had initially said that, while single coins were not usually regarded as treasure, the one found by Mr Brooks had a hole drilled through it and may not have then been used as currency.

But Mr Brooks said that while other finds he had made in the past had been declared as treasure, he believed this "very rare" coin was not and should be returned him.

He told the inquest: "The hole could have been drilled by me, by a Victorian person or others over hundreds of years."

On Monday, Mr Brooks was at Suffolk Coroner's Court in Ipswich to hear assistant Suffolk Coroner Nigel Parsley rule that, because of doubts about what the coin would have been used for, it could not be declared as treasure.

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Detectorist wins treasure battle with museum over ancient coin(www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/salisbury/salisburynews/15219923
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