Couple renovating kitchen find
hoard of English Civil War coins.
A couple renovating the kitchen of a 17th-century cottage found a £35,000 coin
hoard hidden under the floor.
Betty and
Robert Fooks
had recently bought the property and were carrying out
work to remove the kitchen’s concrete floor to create more ceiling height.
Mr Fooks dug down 2ft with a pickaxe by torchlight and unearthed a smashed glazed
pottery bowl full to the brim with 400-year-old coins.
The agricultural engineer counted 1,029 of the coins, including
King James I and
King Charles I gold pieces.
The
hoard is believed to have been buried for safekeeping between 1642 and 1644 during the English Civil War.
The couple reported the discovery to local officials and the
collection was then sent to the British Museum for cleaning and
identification.
The coins are now coming up for sale at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset.
The country cottage is
part of a smallholding at South Poorton Farm, in a hamlet near Bridport, Dorset.
Mrs Fooks, a 43-year-old NHS
health visitor, said: “It is a 400-year-old house so there was lots of
work to do.
“We were taking all the floors and ceilings out and took it back to its
stone walls.
“We decided to lower the ground floor to give us more ceiling height.
“One evening, I was with the children and my husband was digging with a pickaxe when he called to say they’ve found something. He put all the coins in a bucket and brought them
home to me.”
She added: “If we hadn’t lowered the floor they would
still be hidden there. It is amazing and fascinating.
“I presume they were buried during the English Civil War and the person intended to retrieve them but never got the chance.”
The
hoard, which was discovered in October 2019, also contained Elizabeth I, Philip and Mary silver shillings and sixpences.
The most valuable coins are a
James I gold laurel coin and a Charles I gold unite coin dating from the 1620s, which are both tipped to fetch £2,000.
The
hoard has been split into almost 100 lots by Duke’s Auctioneers.
Julian Smith, a specialist at the auctioneers, said: “The coins have been with the British Museum for
identification and cleaning, and they feel the coins were deposited on one occasion around 1642-4.”
The sale takes place on April 23.
