RUNNER Charlie Northey got a greater reward than he expected when he was preparing the grounds at Penlan for last weekend’s Gwent League cross-country fixture.
The Brecon AC athlete found this old one penny coin dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria when he was fixing deep ruts on the course the runners were due to run on.
The coin is dated 1874 and has an image of Britannia on one side and Queen Victoria on the other.
He said: “I was making repairs to the trenches on field in preparation for the Gwent Cross Country League race on Saturday and found this Queen Victoria penny coin from 1874. It’s quite amazing considering they had a huge archaeology dig down there and found virtually nothing ... it makes me wonder if there are more to be found!”
Further research by the runner found that a mint version of the coin could fetch up to £500 in an online auction.
However, this particular example of the coin is badly worn and marked and the edges are crumbling away, which means it is unlikely to have much value.
Saturday’s race featured an appear- ance by Wales’ man of the moment Dewi Griffiths, fresh from his 2:09.49 marathon debut in Frankfurt two weeks ago.