Historic coins dug up by two teenage metal detectorists in separate discoveries have sold for thousands of pounds at auction.

Catering apprentice Reece Pickering, 17, of Great Yarmouth, found a Saxon coin while out in a farmer’s fields in Topcroft in Norfolk.

It sold for £4,000 to a UK buyer when it went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, on Monday, exceeding its guide price of £2,500 to £3,000.

Schoolboy Walter Taylor, 16, who lives near Ongar in Essex, uncovered a Henry I silver penny in a field in south Essex.

It sold for £3,100 to a UK buyer, achieving its guide price of £3,000 to £3,500.

Hansons historica expert Adam Staples said: “We’re delighted with the results – and for the boys.

“They were two exceptional finds that deserved to do well.

“As a metal detectorist myself, I know how exciting it feels to make discoveries like this.”

Reece was metal detecting with his 41-year-old father, Jonny Crowe, in August when he found the Harold II silver penny dating back to 1066, the year of the Battle of Hastings.

Welder Mr Crowe said the coin has been recorded with The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and is the only one of its kind known to exist.

Reece, who was 16 when he found the coin, said: “It was pretty special to find.

“I wasn’t expecting to come across such a scarce and remarkable coin.

“It’s a day I will remember forever.”

Meanwhile, in Essex, Walter discovered a Henry I silver penny dating back to 1106.

The teenager, who is studying GCSEs at Brentwood County High School in Essex, made the find in September, when he was 15.

He said he had been out metal detecting with his father and his uncle for about four hours when he found it.

The coin depicts Henry I pointing at a comet.

It was struck after a victory at Tinchebrai in Normandy in 1106.

The battle was between invaders led by King Henry I of England and the Norman army of his elder brother, Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy.

Both coins have gone through the correct reporting procedures and any funds made will be split 50/50 with the landowners, the auction house said.