LONDON (AP) - A 1,200-year-old Anglo-Saxon penny sold for 230,000 pounds ($515,000 Cdn) on Wednesday, setting what the auction house said was a new world record for the most expensive British coin.
Spink auction house had expected the 4.33-gram gold coin to fetch between 120,000 pounds and 150,000 pounds ($269,000 to $336,000).
American collector Allan Davisson purchased the coin, which was found in 2001 by an amateur searcher using a metal detector near the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, north of London.
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.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/10/06/658525-ap.html
Spink auction house had expected the 4.33-gram gold coin to fetch between 120,000 pounds and 150,000 pounds ($269,000 to $336,000).
American collector Allan Davisson purchased the coin, which was found in 2001 by an amateur searcher using a metal detector near the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, north of London.
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.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/10/06/658525-ap.html
