The coins, known as staters, date from approximately 60-20 BC and were unearthed near Whitwell in September 2023 by David McIntyre Haigh. He had returned to a field where he had previously found five similar coins in 2019, BBC reports.

After discovering several coins, Mr Haigh recalled finding the last one of the day. “Hands shaking, I gently wiped the earth off the round disc… and revealed a bright, shining 2,000-year-old superb gold stater with a Celtic horse and pelletal sun design,” he said, adding he was too tired to perform the “gold dance” favoured by detectorists.

The collection, which was declared as treasure, went under the hammer at Noonans auctioneers in Mayfair. Alice Cullen, a coin specialist at Noonans, described the find as “particularly special and unusual”.