A long-forgotten hidden hoard of Roman coins unearthed on farmland in Lincolnshire is coming up for auction.

The complete 'Near Spilsby' collection of 281 Roman coins was discovered by two metal detectorists.

The mainly bronze coins, featuring Roman emperor Constantine the Great and members of his family, would have been buried in the ground near Spilsby around 340 AD but were never recovered by theoriginal owner.

The Midlands metal detectorists who found the coins wish to remain anonymous, but one of them said: "The coins would have been hidden there by someone who planned to return but they never did. Whoknows what happened to them.

"The coins lay hidden in the ground for almost 1,700 years - until we came along. We were passing by one day, spotted the farmer in the field and asked if we could go on to his land with our metaldetectors. He said yes, and we split up in different directions.

"My friend suddenly shouted that she had found one coin, then two, then three. She said, 'I think it's a hoard'. By the time I reached her she had 20.

"It is not that unusual to find the odd Roman coin but to find an entire secret hoard is very rare. We called in the farmer to help and that day, in 2014, we found 100 coins.

"After the farmer has cleared his crop the following year, we were given permission to go back and found another 181 Roman coins.

The Roman mints at Arles, Lyon and Trier produced the majority of the coins but they also include examples struck at the ancient Roman cities of Siscia and Aquileia as well as Rome.

As well as Constantine I, the coins depict Constantine II, Contans, Constantius, Helena, Theodora and Delmatius.

To read the complete article, see:
Stunned metal detectorists discover hoard of 1,700-year-old coins buried in a farmer'sfield (http://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/stunned-metal-detectors-discover-hoard-338853)