Roman treasure unearthed by Cambs schoolboy on dog walk

Eleven-year-old Anthony Harp was walking with his mum, Vanessa and the family's dog, Mister Twix, in his home village of Buckworth when he spotted something glinting in a crack in the soil.

"The land was quite dry, and there were cracks in it, and Anthony happened to look down into one of the cracks," said Vanessa, "He saw what he thought was the edge of a modern coin, so he bent down to pull it out."

When Anthony managed to retrieve the coin, the family realised he had found something special.

The coin Anthony found was glinting in a crack in the soil.a (Image: Vanessa harp)

"It is quite worn, and I suppose it could have been mistaken for a bit of metal, but you could see it was an old coin," said Vanessa.

The family took the coin to Cambridgeshire's archaeological finds liaison officer, who confirmed Anthony, a pupil at Sawtry Village College, had unearthed a Roman coin dating back to around 400 AD, around the time of Emperor Constantine.

Vanessa said: "Anthony has been so excited by the find. The finds officer advised us we had to hand the coin over to the landowner, so I contacted the farmer and explained what had happened.

"He was really kind and said Anthony should keep the coin as it was his find, now it has pride of place in his bedroom."

She added that Anthony has always been lucky when it comes to finding things and has unearthed fossils in the past.

"I think Anthony has God-given luck when it comes to finding things, so I'm not surprised he managed to spot the coin in that crack," added Vanessa.

She said the finds officer had told them the coin is copper alloy, and is most likely bronze because of the oxidation of the coin.

She also said it is unusual to make such finds without using a metal detector, so it makes the discovery even more lucky.

Anthony now intends to take his find to show his classmates.