A Darlington metal detectorist has discovered a "mystery" Prussian coin in the fields around the town.

Mark McMullan has been searching the fields around Darlington and County Durham for the last few years.

He has made some incredible finds from rare Roman coins to historic cannonballs.

This latest discovery was "wrapped in complete mystery" when he first unearthed it in the Faverdale area.

It took a bit of research to discover that it was actually a 200-year-old coin from the Kingdom of Prussia.

Mr McMullan said: "Every now and again I find a coin or token wrapped in complete mystery, hence the fun of metal detecting/history hunting.

"I found this one on a field in the Faverdale area of Darlington and initially thought it was a 18th century trade token given the other George 11 &111 coins found in the area.

"However after further research, it turns out its actually a 200 year old coin from the Kingdom of Prussia - a defacto 'Baltic province' of the German Empire (until 1947) whose lands now stretch across modern day lands in Germany, Poland, Russia and Lithuania.

"Given the dimensions of the coin and the shape of the crown, I now know it's a 3 Pfennig copper coin which was minted between 1821-1840 during the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm 111.

"How the hell it got deposited in a Darlington field - only god knows. That said, it's the second item with 'Prussian' connections I have found in recently."

You can follow Mark's discoveries on his Facebook page, click here.