An extremely rare penny, which is more than 1,000 years old, has sold for £13,640 at auction.

The coin, from the reign of Æthelred II (978-1016), was produced in Canterbury.

It sold during a live online auction of coins, medals, banknotes and jewellery overseen by specialists Dix Noonan Webb yesterday.

The penny, previously owned by a British collector, was expected to fetch between £3,000 and £4,000.

But a European numismatist - someone who collects coins - pocketed the precious find for more than triple this.

Head of the coin department at Dix Noonan Webb, Christopher Webb, said: "The coin was of such quality - we expected it to sell well. The seller and the buyer are both very happy."

Other notable items which also fetched a lofty price at yesterday's virtual sale were a shilling from the reign of Charles, made in Bristol, which sold for £12,400, and a group of "convicts tokens" and a Georgian halfpenny, bought by an Australian collector for £1,736.

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