Ancient coin worth a pretty penny
LONDON, England -- A 1,200-year-old Anglo-Saxon penny has sold for £230,000 ($409,000), setting what the auction house said was a new world record for the most expensive British coin.
Spink auction house had expected the 0.15-ounce gold coin to fetch between $214,000 and $267,000.
American collector Allan Davisson purchased the coin, which was found by an amateur searcher using a metal detector near the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, north of London, in 2001.
It is the only known coin to bear the name of King Coenwulf of Mercia, who ruled a region of southern England from 796 to 821.
Experts at Spinks had been fascinated by its reference to the "wic" of London, an Anglo-Saxon settlement outside the city walls.
The previous auction record for a British coin was a gold piece bearing an image of George III's crown, which sold for $303,000 in 1999, Spink said.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
