Retired butcher Roy Page, 69, of Coedpoeth, found the detailed 2,000-year-old coin on a farm near St Asaph when he went on a search there with the Mold-based Historical Search Society.

Roy handed the tiny silver coin to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, who identified it as dating from the second century BC.

It is believed to have been brought over some time after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, or during earlier visits in the first century BC.

Roy, who has been metal detecting for five years, said: "The person who held the coin was probably a Roman.

"When he told me I nearly fainted, I was over the moon. I was told by an expert in our group that it could be the oldest coin found in Wales.

"It shows how far the Romans came into this country.

"It is living history. I suppose the way I feel is how you would feel if you won the pools.

"When you look at a map of where old coins have been found in Wales there have not been many found around St Asaph."

The coin depicts two horses being driven by a man on a chariot.

Roy routinely puts in 10 hours of metal detecting a week using his computerised Minelab X Terra metal detector, which can differentiate between metals.

Roy was making his way to his car for a drink when the familiar high pitched bleep started up, signifying a coin.

Roy said: "I flipped the soil back and it was there, only six inches down.

"I was thirsty and so I popped it in my pocket with my other finds."

Roy says he is not interested in the value of the coin, taking pleasure from simply having found it.