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A family in England discovered nearly 400 - year - old buried treasure during a late home renovation project . The find includes more than 1,000 gold and silver coins that were likely hidden during the first English Civil War .
Betty and Robert Fooks by chance unearth the 17th - century stash at their cottage in South Poorton Farm , Dorset , in 2019 . Now , these coin have make the auction cylinder block and sell for up of $ 75,900 ( 60,740 British pounds ) , according to the hammer prices listed byDuke ’s , an auction theatre in Dorchester that do by the sales .
The gold coin of Charles I that sold for 5,000 pounds.
Robert Fooks made the find while pickaxing the kitchen base to remove about 2 feet ( 0.6 metre ) of flooring material , include modern concrete , honest-to-god flagstone and bare earth . Then , he saw a broken glazed - ceramic watercraft brim with coin in the layer of soil date stamp back about 400 years . It ’s indecipherable if the bowl was break before or during the recent discovery , concord toDuke ’s .
The couple contacted a local finds liaison policeman , who arranged for the coins to be send to the British Museum , where they were cleaned and identify , according toThe Guardian . The British Museum noted that the coins were likely wedge on a single occasion between about 1642 and 1644 , date belike based on the coin ' pile date .
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The coins were found in a broken glazed-ceramic vessel in the bare-earth floor of the kitchen.
The coin in the collection , name the Poorton Coin Hoard , range from modest sixpences , which wereworth six pennies , to a sought after gold " unite " coin that wasworth 20 shillings , or 1 pound sterling , and depict the visages of English monarchs Edward VI ; Mary and her husband Philip ; Elizabeth I ; James I ; and Charles I , who ruled in turn from 1547 to 1649 .
Many of the coins sold individually or in groups at auction bridge on April 23 . A individual gilt coin of Charles I bring in the high terms , at 5,000 British pounds ( $ 6,260 ) , while some set went for far more than their guess value .
The period in which the coins were probably hidden — 1642 to 1644 — coincides with the first English Civil War , which hold out from 1642 to 1646 . The three polite war were push between supporters of the English sovereign , then Charles I , and Parliament , to determine the balance of force between the crown and Parliament .
" Perhaps the most important poor - condition import of the Civil Wars was that it culminated in the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and a republic was established for the first clip in English history which lasted 11 years,“Waseem Ahmed , a doctorial scholarly person of history at University College London who specialize in seventeenth century British political history but was not involved in the hoard ’s discovery or analysis , recite Live Science in an e-mail ..
It ’s no surprise that people blot out their money back then , as warfare during this time included the ictus of opponents ' belongings , he said .
" If you were a Cavalier or suspected royalist , you could have your estate sequestrated ( conquer ) by the Parliamentary side and vice versa , " Ahmed explained . This may be the case for the 17th - century homeowner , as Dorset was a hot spot for scout group drift and the turbulence that follow .
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It ’s likely that someone buried the Poorton Coin Hoard with the hopes of safeguarding it and retrieving it subsequently . And while the hoarded wealth was certainly safeguarded , its recovery took four centuries longer than its owner likely desired .
" If we had n’t glower the floor , they would still be veil there , " Betty Fooks told The Guardian . " I presume the somebody stand for to regain them but never have the chance . "
