LONDON.- After much competition and media interest, the Haconby Fertility figure (a bronze nude figure holding in his right hand an oversized phallus which is hinged for movement) sold for a hammer price of £2,200 at Noonans yesterday (Thursday, March 9, 2023) in a two-day sale of Ancient Coins and Antiquities. Estimated to fetch £800-1,200, the figure which measured 5.5cm high by 1.2cm wide, was sold to a UK buyer.

Discovered at a detector rally in Haconby in Lincolnshire in 2022 by Paul Shepheard, who was searching a stubble field with his wife Joanne. She had just found a Medieval penny and he was hoping his luck would change when he got a signal on his new XP Deus II. Digging down 10 inches he uncovered what he thought was a large steel split pin commonly used to retain wheels on farm carts, which Paul knew as he loved to restore farming equipment when he was younger. After looking more closely, he saw the outline of a face and realised it was more significant.

Paul who is 69, lives in March in Cambridgeshire and is a retired processing consultant watched the auction from home. He has been detecting for 25 years and commented: “We are really pleased with the price that the figure made. We really enjoy metal detecting and go out at least three times a week – nothing would stop us doing that! However, finding Items like ours is a rare event and it was great to see how it sold and the interest is received.”

He carried on saying: “We plan to use the proceeds from the sale to pay for a holiday to Kos for my wife and her mother.”

Following the sale, Nigel Mills, Consultant (Coins and Artefacts) at Noonans commented: “Dating to the Celtic period from the 1st century AD, this is a representation of a fertility god, probably based on the Roman god Mercury as he is holding a purse in his left hand.”

He continues: “This male figure with its hinged oversized phallus would have had symbolic powers of good luck and warding off evil spirits and may have served as a locking mechanism as a buckle to hold a belt and scabbard for a sword.”