They estimated the total value of the haul to be around £250,000 (about $350,000). In the middle of making big plans for his future—paying off the mortgage, buying a car, etc.—Samspon showed the coins to a neighbor, who quickly realized that the coins were fake. So, Adams and Samspon made some calls and asked around and confirmed that the coins indeed were not long-buried, long-hidden, super-valuable treasure at all. They were leftover, uncollected, briefly buried props for a TV show filming in the area last summer. That TV show, irony of ironies, was Detectorists.
People on Twitter really felt for the real-life Detectorists.
Aww, that's like winning the lottery and realising it's a fake ticket. https://t.co/M8uyyIyOG2
— Thomas Haynes ?? (@tomthenicetory) January 31, 2018
Tragic.
— Winston Reade PI (@WinstonReadePI) January 31, 2018
Life imitates art.
— Peter Bridgman (@Peter_Bridgman) January 31, 2018
Not so much metal detecting, more meta-metal detecting.
— David Court; Writer, dreamweaver, idiot. #FBPE (@FoldsFive) January 31, 2018
Give them a part in the series I say. Bless them.
— Paula Watt (@xPaulaWattx) January 31, 2018
omg. absolutely J'ADORE this story about two metal detectorists who found an enormous haul of roman gold ….. until they realised they were props from the actual tv show DETECTORISTS. i love you paul, i love you andy (!) you are too good for this world. keep on searching pic.twitter.com/cAZwBGRCIP
— anna leszkiewicz (@annaleszkie) January 31, 2018
Awww! Poor guys! It'd be a real kick in the teeth if they only took up the hobby because of the programme.
— And the Peet goes on… (@axolotl74) January 31, 2018
@corrie_corfield This is on a par with the crushing disappointment I recently experienced when I presented my Finds Liaison Officer with a mudlarking find of a Saxon shell-tempered ware pot fragment, only to be told it was Tarmac circa 1960.
— Liz Anderson? (@liz_lizanderson) January 31, 2018
Must have some value as a TV prop to collectors TV and Movie Memorabilia, though just not £250,000 worth…
— FarmersMartMag (@FarmersMartMag) January 31, 2018
"FROM NERO TO ZERO." Don't talk to me or my Detectorist Dads ever again.
— Sarah_Woolley (@Sarah_Woolley) January 31, 2018