A 127-year-old farthing has been discovered under the mast of the HMS Victory, the flagship of Lord Nelson.

Conservation workers had found it after the mast was removed for restoration back in May.

It was likely that the Victorian-era coin, which dates back to 1894, was placed there for good luck.

As part of Trafalgar Day, to celebrate the British victory over French and Spanish fleets back in 1805 under the command of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, it will go on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) next to Victory’s dry dock at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

At the time of it being placed under the mast it would have been worth a quarter of a penny, and in present time would have a value of 0.1p.

Diana Davis, head of conservation at the NMRN, told the PA News Agency: “I excavated it from the shim on the mast base plate with a leaf trowel and scalpel, after recording and drawing it in situ.

“Then, in the laboratory, I removed as much of the corrosion as possible without damaging the patinated copper alloy surface.

“There has been a little bit of loss to the coin’s surface from the impact of the mast with upwards of 21 tonnes resting on it, but I was able to clean enough of the sound surface to uncover the lighthouse to the lower left side of Britannia, allowing us to date it as an 1894 farthing.

“It’s been one of the more unusual projects I’ve worked on – being the first person to see the coin in over 120 years.”