Roman gold discovered in plowed UK field

Detectorists have discovered 11 coins on a remote stretch of cultivated field located in Norfolk, near England's eastern coast. The hoard is dated to between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. All the coins were minted before the Roman conquest, when Britain became occupied by Roman forces in A.D. 43 after an invasion by Claudius. Two types of gold coins were found: one type was marked with the portrait of Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome, with Gaius and Lucius, his grandsons and heirs to the throne. (Both grandsons died before they could become emperor.) The other featured Augustus in profile on one side, but with Gaius on horseback on the reverse.

The coins have a small indentation at the top, likely indicating that someone tested the coins for their purity. Cutting "knicks" into the faces of gold coins was a common practice in the Roman Empire, where forgeries were abundant.