A Suffolk man who unearthed a Roman hoard worth around £65,000 said he had "achieved his childhood dream".
George Ridgway, from Ashbocking, unearthed the stash in a field near his home after satellite images showed an “interesting crop mark”.
When George, who has a dog called Indy, searched the area with his metal detector, he found two Roman brooches, and when he kept going, his detector gave off a strong reading signifying silver.
He said: “I dug down and six inches into the earth, was a silver denarius of Julius Caesar, which is amazing because you think how iconic he is, and that coin was from 46-47BC.
“That coin in itself would have been the find of a lifetime, just that one, but I carried on searching, a few feet away, I had another silver denarius, and then another.
“From then it went crazy and within a few hours, I had accumulated around 180 denarii (Roman coins).”
The 31-year-old discovered not only silver denarii from Julius Caesar's time but also Iron Age coins and shards of pottery.
“It was unbelievable really because I actually grew up next to a Roman road, I have always been passionate about Roman history," he said.
“Finding one coin was unbelievable and then I just had handfuls of silver denarii. I remember holding them in my hand and thinking: ‘I have done it. I have achieved my childhood dream. I’ve found a roman hoard.’
"It was amazing – adrenaline was surging through my body.”
George says one of his biggest influences is Indiana Jones. As well as having a dog called Indy, he often wears the hat and whip like the fictional archaeology professor.
Over the following three months, George and his family scoured the area and tried to uncover as much as they could.
Earlier this month, the hoard was provisionally valued at £65,000.
The money will be split between George – who received his first metal detector from his grandma when he was 13 – and the landowner who remains unnamed.
George's find recently featured on the More4 TV show 'Great British History Hunters' which aired May 18. You can watch the show here.
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