Detectorist’s Iron Age Gold Hoard Brings £33,200 at Noonans
Discovered near Bury St Edmunds by a university professor, the largest known group of coins from the reign of King Dubnovellaunos drew strong collector interest.
The largest known hoard of Iron Age gold coins to be deposited during the reign of the Iron Age King Dubnovellaunos, who ruled the Trinovantes between 25 BC and 10 AD, fetched a combined hammer price of £33,200 (roughly $44,000) at Noonans Mayfair (16 Bolton Street) on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Known as The Bury St Edmunds hoard, it was found in two parcels by Tom Licence, Professor of Medieval History and Literature at the University of East Anglia, in a field near Bury. In Autumn 2024, Tom, who is 46 years old, discovered 16 full gold Iron Age Staters and one quarter-Stater, and these were promptly reported to the Finds Liaison Officer and were declared treasure. He returned to the site a few months later and found one more Stater.
Following the sale, Tom said: "It was an honour to see expert collectors taking these coins into their care. So much of the research on ancient coins is done by the collecting community, all around the world. Without their contribution, we would know very little. With the share which the landowner is generously granting me, I will be supporting archaeological work in Suffolk.”
Highlights of the auction included an Addedomaros wheel stater that fetched a hammer price of £4,600 against an estimate of £3,000-3,600 [lot 2013]; while a gold stater from Dubnovellaunos (c. 5 BC - AD 10) realised a hammer price of £3,400 against an estimate of £1,500-£2,000 [lot 2007]. These two coins were bought by the same collector in the USA. A collector in Switzerland bought another Addedomaros (c. 45-25 BC) gold stater also for a hammer price of £3,400. It had been expected to fetch £1,000-£1,500 [lot 2015].
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