Chapter 4

In the end I let Phil have his choice of coins and he asked for three. That seemed fair to me, considering all the hours Dex and I had spent at Phil’s house, eviscerating enemy combatants in his video game. I sold the rest on eBay, making slightly more than the sums Dr Wells had predicted. I spent some of the money on some sturdy but lightweight digging tools to help excavate my finds, but I used most of it to buy Janey and my parents really nice presents when their birthdays came around.

Over the next few months, I went back to see Dr Wells a couple of times, each time having collected a worthwhile quantity of coins from my searching on the moors. Both times I cycled to the museum on my bike. The first time was okay - I hadn’t found anything rare but the coins were worth enough to keep up my enthusiasm. But the second time, one of my finds had Dr Wells literally bouncing out of his seat. He consulted his reference books then asked me to wait while he first called a colleague who worked at another institution, then the museum’s Chairman of the Board.

“Jon,” said Dr Wells afterwards, “most of what you brought with you today is relatively common. The museum has no interest in them, but I’m sure you’d be able to get a few pounds for each of them on eBay.” Then he held up an nondescript coin which appeared to be made from a duller metal than the others. “This one, however, subject to confirmation from an expert, is probably very rare. It might even be gold. The museum would love to buy it from you for a fair market price. The trouble is, I have no idea what that might be. I’d like to send it away to be authenticated but the museum has a strict protocol for a situation like this; I’m not allowed to deal with an unaccompanied minor. Would you mind bringing the coin back another time when you have your father with you?”

“Okay,” I said on autopilot, in a daze at what Dr Wells had told me. “I’ll see if he can make it tomorrow.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that. In the meantime, take every precaution to keep the coin safe, and I suggest you photograph it very carefully before you bring it back. We could be talking thousands of pounds here.”

My knees turned to jelly at the thought. “Dr Wells, I’m not comfortable carrying such a valuable item around with me. I came on my bike today. Can I leave the coin here for safekeeping?”

Dr Wells sighed. “I’m sorry, Jon, but that would create an insurance nightmare for the museum. Every item above a certain value has to be appraised and photographed before it’s covered by our insurance. If you left it here, it wouldn’t be insured.”

“I understand. May I use your phone to call someone to come and pick me up?” Because my cellphone was so rubbish and my only friends were Phil and Dex, like usual I had left it at home.