A massive haul of more than 10,000 Roman coins has been unearthed by an amateur metal detecting enthusiast – on his first ever treasure hunt.

The silver and bronze ‘nummi’ coins, dating from between 240AD and 320AD, were discovered in a farmer’s field near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, last month.

Finder Nick Davies, 30, was on his first treasure hunt when he discovered the coins, mostly crammed inside a buried 70lb clay pot.

The stunning collection of coins, most of which were found inside the broken brown pot, was uncovered by Nick during a search of land in the Shrewsbury area – just a month after he took up the hobby of metal detecting.

His amazing find is one of the largest collections of Roman coins ever discovered in Shropshire.

And the haul could be put on display at Shrewsbury’s new £10million heritage centre, it was revealed today.

It is also the biggest collection of Roman coins to be found in Britain this year.

He recalled the discovery and described it as ‘fantastically exciting’.

Nick said: ‘The top of the pot had been broken in the ground and a large number of the coins spread in the area.

‘All of these were recovered during the excavation with the help of a metal detector.

‘This added at least another 300 coins to the total – it’s fantastically exciting. I never expected to find such treasure on my first outing with the detector.’

Experts are expected to spend several months cleaning and separating the coins, which have fused together.

They will also give them further identification before sending them to the coroner.

A treasure trove inquest is then expected to take place next year.

He said the coins were probably payment to a farmer or community at the end of a harvest.

Speaking to the Shropshire Star, Mr Reavill said the coins appear to date from the period 320AD to 340AD, late in the reign of Constantine I.

He said: ‘The coins date to the reign of Constantine I when Britain was being used to produce food for the Roman Empire.

‘It is possible these coins were paid to a farmer who buried them and used them as a kind of piggy-bank.’

In total the coins and the pot weigh more than 70lb.

He added: ‘This is probably one of the largest coin hoards ever discovered in Shropshire.

‘The finder, Nick Davies, bought his first metal detector a month ago and this is his first find made with it.

However, Mr Reavill declined to put a figure on either the value of the coins or the pot until the findings of the inquest are known, but he described the discovery as a ‘large and important’ find.