Going for gold - rare coin attracts interest

YOUR WEEKLY ROUND-UP OF THE REGION'S LEADING AUCTIONEERS

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A 2,000-YEAR-OLD gold coin that was unearthed by a metal detectorist in East Yorkshire is attracting international interest ahead of an online auction on Thursday.

The coin is a Corieltavi tribe gold stater dating from 50-10BC and is an incredibly rare example. Experts say it is perhaps only the second of its type ever found.

The Corieltavi was an iron age Celtic tribe that occupied most of the East Midlands including all of Lincolnshire right up to the south bank of the Humber, although the Holderness village of Lelley where the coin was found was the territory of the smaller and somewhat mysterious Parisi tribe.

The coin is small, about the size of the old decimal halfpenny, weighs 5.5 grams and has a composition that is 33 per cent gold, 54 per cent copper and 9.5 per cent silver.