Even though they have lived in this house for more than 10 years, they have only now discovered such a valuable treasure. At first they thought there were electrical cables inside. However, upon closer inspection, they found gold coins dating from 1610 to 1727 and belonging to dynasties from King James I, Charles I to George I.

The couple quickly contacted London auction house Spink & Son and an expert came to evaluate the ancient coins. The results showed that the coins belonged to the wealthy and powerful merchant family Fernley-Maisters. The Maister family were importers and exporters of iron ore, timber and coal and later generations were also extremely successful and held many major positions.

This money was accumulated during the lifetime of Joseph Fernley and his wife Sarah Maister. Fernley died in 1725 and his wife remained at Ellerby until her death at the age of 80 in 1745.

According to Daily mail, the couple discovered these coins in July 2019. They were auctioned with a value of about 754,000 pounds (equivalent to more than 22 billion VND at the current exchange rate). Spink & Son said the auctions had attracted international attention, with private collectors from the US, Europe, Australia, China and Japan flocking to attend.

It is reported that one of the most valuable coins produced since 1720, has a minting error – it does not have the king’s face, but instead has two tails and is expected to fetch around £62,400.

Auctioneer Gregory Edmund said: “The discovery of more than 260 ancient coins is one of the largest discoveries in British archaeological history. It was a wonderful and truly unexpected discovery from an unexpected place.”

Refer to BI, Daily Mail