A TEAM of metal detectorists in a field near Malvern had a 'lottery winning' moment as they found a hoard of rare 17th Century coins.

The diggers, from a group called KC Rallys, were at a scheduled meet scouring the field for artifacts when Garry Williams alerted his companions to his discovery of 51 silver shillings and sixpences depicting William III and dating back to 1697.

Keith Campbell, who set up the group, said: "Having looked into the value of the coins, I am fairly sure they are worth around £100 each so together they could easily be worth £5000. I have had a call today saying that the value of the coins may well be even more than that, as most William III coins were turned into love tokens. Well done to Garry for finding the coins, and to Anne Ewins, Christopher White and Adrian Harris for helping run the group and organise the dig."

The Coroner's Court will now decide what to do with the coins in line with the Treasure Act 1996. According to the act, treasure is anything which is more than a single coin, over 300 years old and containing at least 10 per cent gold or silver.