- 17 renovationsNumber Nearly 100 coins from the First English Civil War have been unearthed at a century-old site in England.
- The coin recently sold at auction for approximately $75,000.
- The owner made the discovery while lowering the floor of a farm shed.
An astonishing discovery: a couple renovating a farmhouse in West Dorset, England, accidentally unearthed a treasure trove of 17th century coins.
The discovery was made about five years ago when the couple were digging deeper to raise the ceiling height of their longhouse cottage at South Porton Farm. Robert Fuchs struck a glazed ceramic bowl with a pickaxe and uncovered about 100 coins dating back to the First English Civil War.
The collection, which became known as the “Poorton Coin Hoard,” included gold coins from James I and Charles I, as well as silver half-crowns, shillings and six-pence from the times of Elizabeth I, King Philip and Queen Mary. The collection was recently sold at Duke's Auction House for approximately $75,000.
“One Night,” Betty Hooks Parents“I was with the kids and my husband was digging with a pickaxe and we got a call saying they'd found something. He put all the coins in a bucket.”
They reported their find and sent it to the British Museum for cleaning and identification, where museum experts told the Hooks that the coin had probably been hidden at some point between 1642 and 1644, during the turmoil of the English Civil War.
Waseem Ahmed, a doctoral candidate in history at University College London and an expert on 17th century British political history, says that's true. Live ScienceAt the time, Dorset was a strategic base for the movement of troops during the war, which ended in victory for the Parliamentarians and the capture (and eventual execution) of King Charles I.
People hid their valuables to prevent them being confiscated by rival forces. “If you were a Royalist or suspected of being a Royalist, your property could be seized by Parliamentarians and vice versa,” Dorsett said.
The war left behind chaotic debris that has remained buried for more than 400 years. “If we hadn't lowered the floor, they would still be there buried,” Betty Fuchs said. Parents“I think the person intended to retrieve it but never got the chance.”
Now the Poorton Coin Hoard adds another piece to the historical puzzle of a country once ravaged by civil war.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He has covered stadiums, sneakers, equipment, infrastructure and more for a variety of publications including Popular Mechanics. Some of his favorite interviews include with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
