A rare 15th-century spoon worth in the region of £12,000 to £18,000 has been unearthed in Stowmarket.

Aaron Pizzey from Stowmarket was out metal detecting in the Suffolk town when his detector gave off a loud signal.

%image(15101754, type="article-full", alt="A rare 15th century spoon was found by Aaron Pizzey in Stowmarket. It is estimated to be in the value of between £12,000 - £18,000")

Around eight to 12 inches deep in the ground was a solid silver diamond point spoon.

Experts have dated all the way back to 1450.

%image(15101755, type="article-full", alt="Experts in London said that there were only a handful of those spoons to exist.")

The 26-year-old has been metal detecting for 12 years around the county, and has, up until now, discovered things from the Bronze Age right through to present day.

He said: “I saw the edge of the bowl sticking out from the soil, I reached down and pulled the spoon from the ground which was in remarkable condition with only two small dents in the bowl and some tarnishing considering it may have been in the ground for over 500 years.

“At first, I didn’t know what to make of it, I assumed it was Victorian but it looked to be solid silver so I started taking pictures of it and I posted it on a metal detecting forum on Facebook.

%image(15101756, type="article-full", alt="The spoon dates back to around 1450, meaning it could have been in the ground for over 500 years")

“Within minutes my phone was going crazy with notifications due to the vast number of comments and interest.

“People had shared references to other spoons on auction sites, identical to mine and I was astonished by the value.”

The find was taken to London, and experts said there is only a handful known to have existed, and were able to put a rough date on the spoon due to the uncommon stamp of a leopard’s head at the base of the stem.

%image(15101757, type="article-full", alt="The spoon was found in Stowmarket, and was 8-12" underground")

The spoon was later taken to a specialist auction house in London by the landowner.

The auction house put an evaluation on the spoon between £12,000 and £18,000. The landowner has decided to keep the spoon for an agreed amount with Aaron.

Aaron has said that the money will go towards his house renovation and will allow for him to upgrade his metal detector.

%image(15101758, type="article-full", alt="The uncommon leopard head at the base of the spoon")