Friends find 10m pounds treasure in Jersey after 30-year search

London -  Two amateur archeologists have uncovered a treasure of 50,000 Iron Age coins that are approximately worth 10 million pounds after searching for it continuously for 30 years.

Reg Mead and Richard Miles had scoured fields in Jersey with metal detectors after they heard rumours about an ancient treasure being buried on the land.

The friends’ hunt was limited to 15 hours a year because of their work commitments.

But they never gave up and made their first find in February – when they unearthed 61 silver and gold coins.

They then returned to the site with a deep scanner metal detector used to find buried aircraft wreckage, which then led them to the Celtic haul, which was buried under a hedge.

“We knew it was significant straight away but not how significant. It is potentially life changing but any monetary reward is secondary to the thrill of finding ancient artifacts,” the Daily Express

quoted 49-year-old Miles, a Customs officer, as saying.

Pledging to continue his hobby, the father-of-four said: “We were never in it for the money or we would have stopped years ago,”

“I am not thinking of the money, I just want to enjoy the historic significance of the moment,” 70-year-old Mead said.

Archeologists from Jersey Heritage have now hoisted a huge mound of clay out of the ground and moved it to a secure site.

Experts are now removing the coins, which date to around 50BC and could be worth 200 pounds each.

Jersey’s Receiver General declared the pair’s first find as “treasure trove.”

It is thought that the coins were brought to the island by the Coriosolitae tribe, who had fled modern day Brittany and Normandy to escape Julius Caesar’s invading armies.

Experts believe that the money could have been amassed to fund a war to oust the Romans.

“It is probably the most important archeological find on the island for 50 years,” Neil Mahrer, of Jersey Heritage, said.

Once cleaned, the treasure will then go on display at the island’s museum.