TREASURE hunter Gavin Warren, of the Forest of Dean Metal Detecting Club, has made his second discovery of a major hoard – this time a rare find of an estimated 500 clippings, taken from the edges of silver coins.

The find was made by Gavin, who also discovered the ‘Yorkley Hoard’ of almost 500 coins three years ago, while he was on an exploratory mission to try out a new metal detector.

The clippings were compressed into a ball, and were found about four inches under the ground, in Littledean.

It has been dubbed the ‘toenail hoard’ since the clippings are very thin. The coins range from a the 15th century, to the youngest which is dated 1645 – which means that it was minted at the height of the English Civil War, which may explain the original concealment of the metal.

The find is ‘a very important and rare event indeed’ according to Kurt Adams, of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, part of Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service.

Kurt told the Review: “Historically, clipping coins was lucrative, but very dangerous in terms of the ramifications if you were caught, as it carried the death sentence for anyone found doing it. The penalty of defacing coins at that time, for men, was to be hung, drawn and quartered, while women were burned at the stake.

“The clippings would have been taken from the edges of silver coins, so reducing their size from the standard. This was dangerous for the economy as a whole.

“Once clipped, the original aim would have been to melt the silver down to make other, counterfeit, coins.”

Kurt added: “This may not be the biggest hoard of clipped coins ever found, but it is certainly very large. Normally we would expect around 20 or 30 clippings in a find, so finding 500 is certainly remarkable.”

Gavin, who lives in Cinderford, told the Review: “I was trying out the new detector in the Littledean area, and came on the hoard there. It looked like fence wire that had been dumped, but when we looked closely, we realised it was a mass of clipped coins.

“They were taken to Kurt, who took them to the British Museum. They will stay there under the rulers of the Treasure Act. That may take a year or more. After that, I think it would be nice if they could go to the Dean Heritage Centre along with the other hoard, but, failing that, I would like to put them on display in my own home, because they look amazing.”

Gavin’s other major find, the cache of 499 coins discovered in Yorkley in 2012, went on display at the Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley, earlier this year, having been bought by the museum by a conglomeration of grants, including from the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund, The Headley Trust, and from fundraising by the Friends of the Dean Heritage Centre.

• The Forest of Dean Metal Detecting Club meets at the Nags Head in Yorkley, on the last Wednesday of each month.