The owners of an 18th century home discovered a collection of 260 gold coins during a kitchen renovation in 2019.
According to a press release from Spink & Son, a London-based auction and collectibles company, "almost every coin represents the pound piece of its day and it is one of the largest collections of gold coins ever found in Britain."
The coins, which span the reigns of King James I through King George I, were found in a cup under the floor of a house in North Yorkshire. The press release stated that the cup was no bigger than a soft drink can.
The coins have over $100,000 worth of spending power from 1610 to 1720.
Gregory Edmund, senior specialist and auctioneer at Spink & Son, said that it was a wonderful and truly unexpected discovery. The gold coins, dubbed the "Ellerby Area Hoard," will be up for auction on October 7.
The Fernley-Maisters are thought to have held influence from the 16th to 18th century. According to the press release, some family members served in Parliament in the early 1700s, and the family made their wealth as importers and exporters of iron Ore, timber, and Coal from the Baltic.
The press release said that the coins were never recovered because of the family line dying out. The couple who owned the coins died in 1725 and 1745, according to the auction house.
Edmund said thatJoseph and Sarah distrusted the Bank of England, the 'banknote' and even the gold coinage of their day because they chose to hold onto so many coins dating to the English Civil War.
The coins missed out on being considered treasure because they were found in 2019. According to the act, two or more coins made of gold and more than 300 years old are considered to be an archaeological hold.
Edmund said the gold coins themselves are not "mindblowing" because they reflect the £50 and £100 coins of day-to-day exchange that were never recovered.
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