Ayrshire treasure hunters uncover Twynholm silver coins Published duration 4 February 2014

image copyright Gordon McLennan image caption The coins were uncovered in a field near Twynholm shortly before Christmas

Two men have uncovered what is believed to be the biggest collection of medieval silver coins ever found using metal detectors in Scotland.

Gus Paterson and Derek McLennan, from Ayrshire, made the find in a field at Twynholm, near Kirkcudbright, shortly before Christmas.

After several return visits, their haul now tops 300 coins.

They will show them to local residents before handing them over to the Crown as treasure-trove.

Mr McLennan said they suspected the field would yield something interesting, but were on the verge of giving up when they first made the discovery.

image caption Metal detectors finally tracked down the coins in the field near Twynholm

image copyright Other image caption The two men had just about given up when they found the coins

image caption Since unearthing the first items, they have returned to find more

image copyright Gordon McLennan image caption The coins will be handed over as treasure trove

"We had done quite a lot of research and had targeted that particular area and we had searched several fields around it before we stumbled across it," he said.

"We had been searching for probably about five hours in atrocious weather with horizontal rain and 60mph gales.

"We were both feeling rather scunnered in the last field before we were heading for the car."

A final sweep, however, produced the desired results.

"I went in one direction and Gus went in the other and Gus was lucky enough to hit the first two coins," said Mr McLennan.

"There was jubilation all round as I'm sure you can imagine."