The chance discovery by a team of amateur archaeologists provides the earliest known evidence of Britain’s cash economy, which was surprisingly advanced for the time.

The cash machine was found in what appears to be the wall of an ancient bakery at the heart of the commercial Roman town.

The mysterious fragments and collection of Roman coins date all the way back to the year AD 289.

The cash dispenser was a crude mechanism, compared to the complex technology we use today.

A Roman vase was also discovered at the site, filled with cash. Archaeologists believe it was used for storage within the wall so the Hatfield Romans could easily access their hard-earned money.

While today's ATMs read the black magnetic stripe on users' cards and deploy sophisticated roller technology to push out bank notes, the original version used a man. Or possibly a trusted and numerate slave.