Firefighter Arthur Raynor has uncovered what he believes to be one of the rarest coins anywhere in the world - an example of the earliest currency minted for Bermuda.

Mr. Raynor has unearthed what is thought to be a Hog Shilling dating from 1616, one of what may be around just 40 known examples of "Hog Money".

The Hog Money or "Hoggies" were minted for use in the Bermuda Company's store and probably went out of use by 1626 at the very latest, according to Dr Edward Harris, director of Bermuda Maritime Museum.

Mr. Raynor found the coin with his metal detector a month ago near a fort in St. George's - he will not disclose the exact location - but only realised its significance at the weekend when he began checking his haul.

He intends to take the coin, which features a wild boar on one side and the Sea Venture - Sir George Somers' ship which ran aground in 1609 leading to the discovery of the Island on the other - to Bermuda Monetary Authority today for verification.

He told The Royal Gazette yesterday that an American collector had already offered to buy it without seeing it, but he intends to keep it in Bermuda.

The last time Hog Money - named after the wild boars which inhabited Bermuda at the time of its discovery - was found was in 1996 when three were unearthed at Castle Island.

Two years earlier, Dr. Harris and a team from Bermuda Monetary Authority discovered 13 coins during a dig at Castle Island.

Mr. Raynor, who lives in Warwick, said yesterday: "It was only two days ago when I was going through things when I saw this and it was 'wow'.

"I was shocked and surprised. I've found thousands of coins since I began in 1983 and I've always been hunting for one of these.

"I also have a Spanish Real (dollar) but this will now be the top of my list. A collector in the US has offered to buy it sight unseen, but I would prefer to keep it in Bermuda and if I do sell it, it will be locally."

Mr. Raynor believes the coin could be worth between $2,000 and $12,000

Dr. Harris said when Bermuda was first permanently settled in 1612, the currency used was the Spanish dollar and tobacco.

Hog Money was minted in London in 1616 for use exclusively in Bermuda and was the first currency developed by the English for use in a colony, he said.

But it went out of circulation by 1626 at the latest, he said, and the Spanish dollar and later English money was used on the Island until 1793 when Bermuda again received its own designated currency, the Ship's Penny - itself part of British imperial currency.

"It is difficult to say how valuable this would because we don't know if it is genuine," said Dr. Harris.

"It depends on the quality and how well it has been preserved but it is always good to have more additions to such a small collection of national heritage.

"They are important because it is almost 200 years between Hog Money and anything else with Bermuda on a coin.

"They were the first Bermuda coinage, the first coinage made by England for an overseas colony, and they are one of the most rare American coinages.

"They were made by the Bermuda Company to be spent in the company store and they were not popular at the time. The expression "Hog Money" may have been more in derision than the fact they had hogs on the coins.

"There may have been several shipments, but the first was in 1616 and Hog Money had a ten-year life, if that.

"The group we found at Castle Island we believe were thrown out with the rest of the kitchen rubbish because they didn't have much value."

Of those known to exist in public collections, there were probably about 40, including 19 at the Maritime Museum and about ten at Bermuda Monetary Authority, said Dr. Harris.

There could be others in private collections, but it was difficult to say.