(Steve Dean via SWNS)

James Gamble

A keen metal detectorist has hit the jackpot of an ancient Roman coin hoard - 20 years after he first took up his hobby.

Steve Dean, along with friends Glenn Church and Ed Denovan, discovered the valuable hoard of around 400 coins in a farmer's field near Maidstone, Kent.

The coins - believed to be around 1,800 years old - are now being looked at by experts at the British Museum, who will put a price on their finding.

For Dean, a 68-year-old who works as part of the security team at the University of Kent, the discovery marks his 'bucket list' moment in over two decades of detectoring.

Church and Denovan - 69 and 70 respectively - have also never encountered a treasure trove of this kind, despite the former having started detectoring way back in t

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