by Ben Turner, SWNS

A rare 23-carat gold ‘Leopard’ coin that was lost after the Black Death is expected to fetch £140,000 at auction.

The coin, which was minted at the Tower of London in 1344, was worth the equivalent of £12,000 in today’s money.

Known as a ‘leopard’, it would have been the currency of society’s elite class.

The coin was in circulation for just seven months before being withdrawn under the orders of King Edward III.

It was lost in the wake of the Black Death, which reached England in 1348, before being found by a metal detectorist in Norfolk in October 2019.

The coin will go on sale with a guide price of £100,000-£140,000 at Dix Noonan Webb auction house in London on March 8 and 9.