AN £8,000 appeal to buy a rare Anglo-Saxon coin that was found in a Wiltshire village has been launched.

Museum director David Dawson, dirctor of Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, hopes he can raise £8,000 by the time the coin goes under the hammer in London on December 2.

The coin was found in East Grafton in April and was recorded by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Mr Dawson said: "We are launching a fundraising campaign to secure this important find for the Museum. If people can help us raise the funds we need they can log onto our website and donate to the appeal."

Mr Dawson said that it might also be possible for the museum to get a grant to help raise some of the cash for the coin which is being sold by Spink & Son as part of an auction of ancient British and foreign coins and commemorative medals.

The auction house in Bloomsbury has given the coin a guide price of £8,000 and in its catalogue says it dates from 655 to 675 and is excessively rare.

It says the coin was found in a field and has some scuffing but has survived remarkably well and is crisp and clean with high gold content. It is described as extremely fine.

Mr Dawson said: "When we saw this coin was coming up for auction we felt we had to try and raise the money so it can become part of our collection. We hope the people of Wiltshire will want to keep it for the county."

He carried out research on East Grafton where it was found and its Saxon roots. He said: "East Grafton is close to Great Bedwyn and the Saxon royal manor that was probably at Chisbury, just to the north.

"Later in the Saxon period, Bedwyn has a mint – showing how important it was and it was only later than Marlborough became more important.

"The coin dates to the time of the beginnings of Christianity in Wiltshire and just after the burial of King Redwald at Sutton Hoo and the burial of the Staffordshire hoard."

Anyone who can help with the appeal should visit www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk