For the first time archaeologists are showing a 1.8-kilo haul of gold they found while performing excavations around a gas pipeline last year.

The bracelets, rings and other objects have been stored at Lower Saxony’s State Conservation Office since they were found in April 2011 near the town of Syke, while engineers prepared for construction of the so-called Nord Stream pipeline.

When a haul of 200 gold sovereigns like this one were found at a charity dig in Essex, only two were handed in. Metal detector enthusiasts who struck gold at a charity fundraising dig are believed to have fled with the loot – worth up to £70,000.

THE owner of a hoard of rare 400-year-old coins has described finding out they were worth over £50,000 as a real life “Fools and Horses” moment. The 59 gold ‘Unites’, which were minted after James VI of Scotland became the first Stuart king of England in 1603, were found in Chipping Norton.