Darlington metal detectorist finds 400 year old coin weight

Mark McMullan, an experienced metal detectorist from Darlington, located the coin weight whilst out in the North East. 

He has permission from farmers and landowners across the county and North Yorkshire to search their fields and this time he got lucky, documenting his finds on his Facebook page The History Hunter.

Mark described how he has dreamed of finding a gold hammered coin during his metal detector sessions - and said this item was a "near miss" of the dream item. 

Mark said: "In my mind, if there are golden coins weights, there must have been golden hammered coins to be weighed nearby. And so, the hunt for that elusive 'bucket lister' continues.

"Coin weights have been used since Roman times and were made to correspond to the weights of particular coin denominations, with the denomination in question usually indicated in the weight's design.

"They were most commonly made of brass or other copper alloy and were generally produced for high-value pieces, namely gold rather than silver coins."

The weights were used to check the weight of coins in circulation to ensure that the coins received were of good quality.

Mark explained: "Normally they would correspond to the lowest weight at which the coin remained legal tender thereby guarding against heavily clipped, worn or counterfeit coins."

This particular coin weight was used to check for a gold James 1st double crown. 

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Previously, Mark has found one other coin weight, a 'Spur Ryal or Rose Nobel' weight that was minted between 1604 and 12 and was also from the reign of James the 1st. 

Mark said: "The so-called Spur Ryal took its name from the 'Sun symbol with radiating waves' which was said to look like a spur.

"This golden beauty had an equivalent value of 16 shillings and 6 pence and there are only 20 known surviving coins in existence. Indeed one was was recently on sale for £162,750."