A Dumbarton man found treasure "rarer than hen's teeth" in Cardross recently, which is now on display in a local museum.

Bob McGarry, 52, who lives in Bellsmyre, found a Roman medal which is more than 1,800 years old, whilst out with his metal detector.

He has been interested in metal detecting for most of his life on and off - but restarted the hobby around six years ago.

Following an article in our sister title the Helensburgh Advertiser about the Roman medal - thought to be from 193 AD - going on display in Clydebank, Bob's sister got in touch.

He detects all over Scotland, but he found the treasure of a lifetime near Cardross, with the Roman medal one of only a handful known to be found in Britain.

Former fire fighter Bob said the find was "as rare as hens teeth", with no record of coins like it being found in the area.

He told the Reporter: "I do quite a bit of detecting locally. I've had nothing on the same kind of historical importance as this."

He said he was part of an online metal detecting club, and it was through online forums he was able to identify the Roman coin.

He said: "I've found coins, gold half sovereign in Cardross.

"With the medal, I was pretty sure it was Roman, and you don't get much of that stuff in this part of the country. I knew the Romans had big coins.

"I took photos and put them on forums to find out what it was I had found.

"People said it was Roman, then said it wasn't. To have it downgraded, I was disappointed."

At that point, Bob had settled on the artefact being from Victorian times, which he said left him feeling "pretty deflated".

Upon receiving an email from a fellow metal detector south of the border, Bob realised exactly what it was he had found.

He said: "It's outstanding to find something like this."

He took the medal to Kelvingrove museum to find out exactly what it was, and after that Campbeltown and Clydebank museums got in touch wanting to display it.

The medal, which Bob said had been described as being "of national importance" is worth thousands of pounds.

Several museums have amateur metal detectors across the country to thank for items in their displays.

Bob said: "I was fascinated by the idea of finding things that have been lost and the possibility of being the first person to touch something for the first time in hundreds or thousands of years.

"The internet has been the main thing that has changed - there's more information out there."

The medal is on display as part of The Invasion exhibition, at Clydebank Museum and Art Gallery. Mr McGarry will be attending an event at the museum in April to talk about his find.