A mum says her children are ‘expecting to be very rich’ after she stumbled on a hidden treasure chest brimming with coins and gems on the seashore.
Jennie Fitzgerald, 38, of Sprowston, Norwich, drove to the north Norfolk coast to take part in a beach clean.
Hunting litter between Cart Gap and Happisburgh, she spotted something hidden behind a mound of sand.
‘I called my husband and said I’d found something really exciting but he just said “oh no, not more rubbish”.’
Jennie, a medical secretary at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, had to hump the heavy chest two miles back to Sea Palling where her two children were waiting.
They used toothbrushes to scrub sand from the chest- like something from a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
‘The chest was locked shut but the bottom had started to fall off so we were able to take out its contents carefully.
‘We found about one hundred coins, mostly Victorian and some dated to George III’s reign but there were also others that looked to be medieval and Roman.
‘My kids think they are going to be rich.’
There were also gems, a rusted pocket watch, an old perfume bottle, a signet ring and a silver matchstick holder that had been engraved with the name ‘Ernest’.
Apart from the engraving, she said there was no other traceable evidence inside.
She is currently awaiting a response from experts who will hopefully be able to provide more detail about the finds.
‘I’ve never found anything like this on a beach before. Normally I’m looking for sea glass and shells so it was incredible to find something like this.
‘I found the chest at the bottom of the cliffs behind a raised bank. It was covered in sand but is in fairly good condition considering how old it is.’
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