Amateur treasure hunter Jonathan Needham with his gold nugget found in a farmer's field(Image: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

Wild West-style gold rush could hit UK after nugget found in farmer's field

Jonathan Needham unearthed a UK-shaped gold nugget in a farmer’s field in the Midlands. The discovery on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire border could spark a Wild West-style gold rush

by · The Mirror

An amateur treasure hunter may have sparked a British gold rush - after unearthing a nugget in a farmer’s field.

Detectorist Jonathan Needham found the UK-shaped nugget on the Staffordshire-Derbyshire border. The stunned 54-year-old is convinced the “Holy Grail” find was formed naturally beneath the ground. If experts confirm the 3cm x 1cm nugget is natural it could spark a Wild West-style gold rush in the Midlands.

History buff Jonathan said: “I really could not believe it. I have dug gold before but I was not expecting to find a nugget of gold. When you are detecting in England to find a nugget of gold is exceptional. I could see it was gold coloured and I knew straight away that it was gold.

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UK-shaped gold nugget in the field where it was found( Image: Jonathan Needham / SWNS)

“I thought it could have been some bit of jewellery but it is not. It is rare enough to find a piece of gold but to find one that looks exactly like England is crazy. I am hoping it is a natural nugget. If it is it would be extraordinary because not many get found in this country. If it is natural gold it will be one in a lifetime.”

The nugget - shaped like England, Wales and Scotland - weighs 10.3 grams. Jonathan is now in the process of confirming whether it is natural or smelted. The nugget as scrap could be worth around £800. But if it is evidence of gold mining in the Midlands in the past it will be worth much more.

Jonathan added: “The jury is out whether it’s natural or whether it’s part of a smelting process and the gold was smelted and then dropped. People are saying it’s natural. If it is natural then I found this on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire borders. It could open a whole can of worms.”

UK-shaped gold nugget found in the Midlands by treasure hunter Jonathan Needham( Image: Tom Maddick / SWNS)

Jonathan is now planning to return to the same area to see if he can discover more similar finds there. He added: “I will be checking out the area very carefully to see if I can pull any more out - it is an amazing find. This is what I do. I am a treasure seeker I don’t do anything else - this is my job.”

He is keeping the exact location a closely-guarded secret.