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LONDON — A cache of 11th-century coins found by an amateur treasure-hunter was unveiled at the British Museum here this week.

Paul Coleman, a member of the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club, found a stash of about 5,200 silver coins while walking in December with a metal detector through Lenborough, a small town about two hours north of London. The coins were together in a lead container, which appears to have been deliberately buried in the 11th century. Each coin bears the face of one of two pre-Norman kings — Ethelred II, who took the throne in 978, when he was about 9 years old; and Canute, who ruled shortly after him.

‘When I saw the first few coins I was really excited because I knew I had found a hoard,” Mr. Coleman said in the museum’s news release. “The excitement grew and grew as the size and importance of the find became apparent.” He added that the officer who was monitoring possible treasure finds in the area was “spot-on when she said ‘now I know a little of what Egyptologist Howard Carter must have felt, when he first looked into the tomb of Tutankhamen.’’’

The British Museum said the objects would now undergo an evaluation process to determine whether they officially qualify as “treasures.” After that they will be available for purchase by museums across the country, with priority given to those in the area where the treasure was found. Some 300 are now on display at the museum alongside a number of other recent finds, including a set of bronze-age bracelets and a collection of ninth- or 10th-century Viking objects found on England’s northwest coast.

Reports of treasure finds in Britain have increased fivefold since the advent of the Treasure Act, a 1996 law that requires those who find gold and silver objects more than 300 years old to report their discovery. This is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon coins found since the act was passed, officials said.