(ORDO NEWS) — A British couple living in North Yorkshire initially thought they had discovered an electrical cable buried under a layer of concrete in their 18th-century mansion.
When they took a closer look at the object, they were shocked. It turned out to be a pot of gold coins, the age of which is approximately 400 years old.
There were a total of 264 coins in the pot. Some of them date back to the reign of James I of England. Experts drew attention to the fact that this hoard of coins is the largest in Great Britain.
According to a preliminary estimate, the value of the find is 250 thousand pounds, which is equal to 289 thousand dollars. They are currently up for sale at the Spink & Son auction.
The coins were produced in 1610 – during the reign of the Stuarts. These are incredibly rare examples from the time of the Civil War in Great Britain.
One of the coins with the image of James I, the Roman emperor, was valued at 4,000 pounds. Another coin entered the country from Brazil.
There was also a 1727 coin in the pot, which made it possible to establish when exactly the treasure was hidden.
The youngest coin from the hoard is only 292 years old. That is why the couple was able to save the collection, because it is less than three centuries old. They decided to put it up for auction.
Experts suggested that the collection could have been owned by Fernley Masters. It was one of Hull’s wealthiest families, engaged in the import and export of iron ore, coal and timber.
Its last generations held positions of politicians and were members of the parliament.
In turn, archaeologists assumed that the coins were collected by Joseph Fearnley and his wife Sarah Meister. Their family line died out in the 17th century.
The coins were then rediscovered by a couple from Yorkshire who decided to sell the treasure at auction.
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