Auctioneer delighted to be able to put Roman coin discovered in Kingswinford field up for auction

The gold Roman coin, which is of the emperor Aulus Vitellius and is believed to have been crafted in AD69, will be the centrepiece of the Specialist Coin auction at Fieldings Auctioneers in Stourbridge on March 27.

The coin was discovered by a metal detectorist in Kingswinford in May 2024 and after being sent to the British Museum, then disclaimed, recorded and returned to the finder, it was collected by Mark Hannam, senior valuer and auctioneer and coin specialist at Fieldings.

Mr Hannam said he was a keen metal detectorist himself and said the coin was a genuinely amazing find.

He said: "To find a coin from AD69 is incredibly rare as most coins we find in this country are from the third and fourth century and we are talking about a time when the gold was its purest level.

"If you read up on the emperor, he was quite a glutenous emperor and it was a tumultuous time, with lots of villainy and debauchery and murder going on.

"It's got everything going for it and it's fantastic for the area we live for it to have come from here, so it's a really important thing to have here."

The coin is set to go up for auction on March 27 and is expected to go for between £3,000 and £6,000.

Mr Hannam said it was exciting for him as a coin specialist to be able to have something like this coin at Fieldings and said that it was a unique piece of history that he hoped would stay within the region.

He said: "I think it is a one-of-a-kind piece of history which is unique and 100 per cent genuine and is still in great condition.

"To me, it's all about the story of the time and of the emperor and I think it would grace anyone's collection of Roman coins and which I would love to use in lectures.

"It's a coin I would use with my groups to talk about the Roman invasion and the influence on the Midlands, so I hope it will stay in private hands and hopefully we'll secure a great price for the vendor."