A teacher who enjoys metal detecting as a "meditative hobby" discovered a treasure trove of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.

"It’s exciting, like a little boy’s dream," Paul Curfs said after his discovery was made public.

Curfs experienced a fair amount of luck too, considering he was about to quit for the day when he heard the hit. The 70 silver and 39 gold coins found were struck in the middle of the first century B.C., according to archaeologists.

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Precious metals rallied with joy Friday despite a strong U.S. dollar and falling oil prices. New York silver, gold and platinum futures surged 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 3.9 percent respectively.

December crude-oil lost more than half of Thursday’s gain, falling $1.30, or 2.2 percent, to close to $57.05 a barrel. According to AAA, the good news for consumers is the average price for unleaded gasoline fell to $2.15 a gallon — a far cry from its $3.13 average just a month ago.

December silver regained all of Thursday’s loss, plus a penny, rising 69 cents to end at 9.49 an ounce.

January platinum rose $32.10 to settle at $845.10 an ounce.

Gold for December surged $37.50 to close to $742.50 an ounce.

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