Best Friends Find Their Very Own Pot Of Gold

When a farmer friend lost his wedding ring in a field near Ballycastle in Northern Ireland, metal detectorists Paul and Michael promised to help find it. After searching the fields for an hour and a half, instead of finding the ring the pair found something remarkable.

Best Friends Yearning for Gold

Paul and Michael are best friends with a shared passion. Both men are fascinated with treasure hunting with Paul having hunted for treasure since he was a child. Whenever they have spare time the two men can be found wandering the local fields with their metal detectors and they often plan trips across the UK to go hunting for treasure.

These best pals are no strangers to discovering buried treasure, since joining forces the pair have found a hoard of silver coins dating the rule of Elizabeth I and a 1775 gold guinea that they found by accident. Like most treasure hunters out there they often dream about finding the big one. One day during a routine search for a missing wedding ring the pair found exactly that.

The Missing Wedding Ring

Paul and Michael had packed up their gear and headed off to Northern Ireland for a bit of treasure hunting over the long weekend. When they safely arrived in Ireland they stopped by to visit an old friend who had farmed his land for decades.

After listening to their tales of treasure and discovery their friend casually mentioned that he had lost his wedding ring years before and it could be somewhere in his fields. Always up for a challenge and a chance to test their equipment the two set off and started searching.

Distant Screams

Less than two hours later Michael was shocked to hear Paul screaming loudly in the distance. As the excitement bubbled in his belly he dropped his equipment and ran towards the sound of his friend’s voice. Off in the distance, Michael could see Paul on his knees digging feverishly.

As Michael got closer Paul screamed out ‘I found it mate, yee-ha it’s a fortune’. There at the bottom of the hole, Michael saw the distinct gleam of gold. The two wept tears of joy as they unearthed the treasure they had only dreamed about.

The Golden Hoard

The friends had not found the wedding ring, instead, they had found a total of 84 gold coins buried in a clay pot close to the field enclosure. The coins were in good condition and dated back to the 1500s.

While most of the coins were British and French in origin, the pair were puzzled to find Spanish Reale in the hoard. These Spanish coins had been minted in South America and their presence in a small field in Ireland was very strange. While all the coins still needed to be evaluated by experts, Paul and Michael approximated that the discovery would be worth over $100,000.

Rare Finds

Reluctantly Paul and Michael turned the coins over to scientists at the Ulster Museum for further study and safekeeping. When experts saw the coins they were shocked. Not only were they unable to explain how the Spanish coins had made their way to Ireland, but one of the coins was an extremely rare coin with the face of Henry VIII on it.

With the high value of the find, this is one of the largest treasure discoveries that has been found in Ireland so far.

Worth a Fortune

Should Michael and Paul choose to sell the coins once they have been fully evaluated, they are entitled to half the fortune while the other half will go to their farmer friend. That is not a bad haul for these hobbyists and we are sure the farmer can by himself plenty of wedding rings with his share.

There is no shortage of buyers for the coins either with museums and collectors all over the world already sending in offers.