Treasure hunter finds gold headdress from Henry VIII’s lost crown

An amateur treasure hunter literally struck gold.

Kevin Duckett was looking for treasure with his metal detector in a field near Market Harborough, Northamptonshire, England, when he discovered a solid gold statuette that experts say is part of a long-lost statue from Henry VIII’s crown.

“At first I wondered if it was a crumpled bowl from a 1970s Mr Kipling product, or even a gold cap from a milk bottle,” Duckett told the Sun.

“I got a really loud positive signal from my detector and started digging before I saw anything … It was stuck in the side of a hole just a few inches lower.”

Duckett had found a 2.5-inch figure of solid gold and enamel that has been lost for over 400 years.

In 1649, Oliver Cromwell abolished the monarchy, beheaded King Charles I, and ordered the crown, once worn by Henry VIII, to be melted, minted and sold as coins – orders that were not obeyed.

According to the sun, the crown’s 344 gemstones were sold individually, while other parts of the crown were passed intact never to be seen again.

The crown was worn by Henry VI II at his coronation and during his marriage to Anne of Cleves in 1540. The headdress was later used in the coronations of his children, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, and then of James I and Charles I.

Historians think the figurine could have come off when Charles escaped, or he buried it to keep it out of Cromwell.