Homeowners in the United Kingdom have discovered a hidden stash of gold coins beneath the floorboards of their kitchen during renovations.
This treasure, estimated to be worth around $290,000 (£250,000) at auction, is believed to be one of the largest collections of 17th and 18th-century British gold coins ever found in England, comprising over 260 coins dating from 1610 to 1727.
Coins hidden under the kitchen floorboards from the 17th and 18th centuries, now recently discovered.
The coins were uncovered in 2019 when contractors excavated a salt-glazed earthenware cup, roughly the size of a soda can, while prying up floorboards in a renovation project at an 18th-century home located in Ellerby, a village in North Yorkshire.
Upon further inspection, the workers found several coins rattling inside the cup, mainly consisting of old £50 and £100 coins, as well as a Brazilian coin that circulated in England during the 1720s, according to a statement from Spink & Son, an auction house based in London.
Gregory Edmund, an auctioneer at Spink & Son, remarked: “It was a fantastic and truly surprising discovery from such an easily found location.”
These coins may have belonged to Joseph and Sarah Fernley-Maisters, members of a prominent merchant family that included several local Members of Parliament living in the area during the late 1600s and early 1700s.
Auctioneer Edmund noted: “Joseph and Sarah clearly did not trust the newly established Bank of England, ‘paper money,’ and even the gold coins of their time, as they chose to hoard a significant amount of currency from the time of the English Civil War and earlier. Why they never retrieved the coins, even though they were so easily found right beneath the original 18th-century floorboards, is an even greater mystery.”
Next month, the treasure will be auctioned through Spink & Son and is expected to fetch nearly $300,000.
