Metal detectorist’s Roman ingot sells for $31,000

Metal detectorist’s Roman ingot sells for $31,000

A metal detectorist who found a Roman ingot in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, UK has sold it at auction for £25,000 ($31,288).

That’s almost double its £15,000 estimate.

Roman ingot Plymouth

The ingot is inscribed with the names of two Roman emperors 

The lot, which is inscribed with the names of 2nd century emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, crossed the block at Hansons Auctioneers on March 22.

The finder, Plymouth bricklayer Jason Baker, said: "All of a sudden it just went mental; it was just bids, bids, bids.

"I was watching with my dad in work and there were a lot of 'f words' involved. My phone and my Facebook have been going off constantly ever since."

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