What have the Romans ever done for us? In the case of one detectorist from North Wales, they have got him on the property ladder.

Darren Booth's discovery of 377 denarii coins in a Shropshire field has landed him a payday, the haul - apparently a soldier's savings - enabling him to obtain a mortgage.

Booth, 40, said. It is the historical worth that has given him the greater thrill. he said.

The discovery has been declared as treasure and the coins are being bought by the British Museum and Shropshire Museums.

The coins include a rare example stamped with the visage of the Emperor Vespasian, only the second of its kind to be discovered in the UK.

Booth said.

He will split the proceeds with the landowner of the field, near Gobowen in the Shropshire Marches, where the coins were found.

Initially Booth found one piece, the first Roman coin he had come across. One become two and then the trickle led to a collection of 273 coins buried in one stash. It is suspected that they belonged to a soldier who buried them for safekeeping but never returned. The money represented a year's wages, and has coins stamped with other emperors, including Augustus, Vitellius, Galba and Tiberius.

It is thought that the coins had been placed in a container that rotted away.

Experts described the Gobowen hoard as important.

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Detectorist uses a Roman's deposit for his mortgage(https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/detectorist-uses-a-romans-deposit-for-his-mortgage-j3v7hw5rd)