One of the dreams of many metal detectorists is to find a gold coin. While I've found a decent amount of gold jewelry in the last seven years of metal detecting, this was my first gold coin. I'm American, but was in the UK for a few weeks to attend some conferences with some vacation sprinkled in. Being in a place with such a long history, I had to bring my detector along with me. I managed to get permission to metal detect at a property owned by our Airbnb host in the Lake District in northwestern England. They told me they had a metal detector and that they hadn't found much, so I didn't expect much. But my third target was a 1744 George II Hibernia Halfpenny, so I knew the site had potential. I found a lot of nineteenth and early twentieth century coppers and some modern trash. Then in a trashier area, I got a decent signal and lifted the plug to reveal a golden disc. An 1817 George III half sovereign. I was stunned. 
I told the landowners the next day and offered to buy it from them. They told me they'd take 50% of the coin's value and that seemed fair to me. I'll most definitely never sell it. Here are some better views of the coin after running some water over it. By the way, this was the first year that the British gold sovereign was minted, replacing the previous gold denomination, the guinea. 
Treasure is out there if you're willing to go look for it! If this interests people, maybe I'll do a series on my best metal detecting finds.
