Posted on 11/30/2025 12:23:56 PM PST by Red Badger
Back in April of 2020, a British family who was stuck at home during the pandemic lockdown busied themselves with some yardwork at their home in Hampstead and ended up unearthing a cache of 69 gold coins from the Tudor period.
The family, who have asked to remain anonymous, registered the remarkable find with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, but the discovery was not publicly announced at the time.
The coins are all dated between the 1420s and 1530s, showing the images of the four English kings from that time period: Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII. Some of the coins also bear the initials of two of Henry VIII's wives.
Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG
Coin specialist David Guest told Fox News Digital,
[The hoard] is also remarkable for the very high state of preservation of the majority of the coins. This makes them very attractive to the current market.
The family auctioned off the entire collection on November 5, by the Numismatica Ars Classica in Switzerland.
At the time the hoard was buried, the value was 26 pounds, 5 shillings and 5-1/2 pence. Its estimated value at auction was £230,000, more than $300,000.
In reality, the find netted £380,000! Here's a few more details from the BBC:
Auctioneer, David Guest said the 'stunning' coins were sold to 'bidders from all over the world and exceeded my expectations'.
He said the family were 'over the moon and in a state of elation and amazement... It's been an amazing journey for them.'
All of the proceeds from the sale will go to the family who found the coins on their property.
I just wish my pandemic hobbies had turned out this profitable!
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I wish I could find gold coins from the time of Henry VIII in my backyard.........But I doubt he ever came to Florida on vaycay..........
I’m surprised that they weren’t confiscated as “ government property”.
I’m Henery The Eighth, I Am! Henery The Eighth, I Am, I am!
I got married to the widow next door,
She’s been married seven times before.
And ev’ryone was a Henery,
She wouldn’t have Willie or a Sam.
I’m her eighth old man named Henery,
Henery the Eighth, I Am!
After appraisal, the government has the right to purchase the find at fair market value. If it doesn’t, the find belongs to the finder
A nice chunk of change. About 1/3 the price of the lowest priced home in the neighborhood.
Well you never know, you might score a Herman’s Hermits 8 track.
Then or now?...........😁
Your in a good a spot for metal detecting on the shore lines with all the ships that went down near there with gold coins.
Good luck
Well, what’s the second verse?
It’s the same as the 1st.
Great Britain has great treasure laws that encourage detecting. If one finds something they tell the government. If the government decides that it has historic value the government buys it from the finder at a reasonable price.
If it isn’t historical it goes back to the finder. A detectorist finds it on someone else’s land they usually have a short contract signed by the landowner to share some percentage of any treasure found.
I was excited when I found a coin of Henry IX, imagine my chagrin when the guy claimed it was fake... 🥁
Second verse, same as the first. should get better but it’s gonna get worse!
I’m surprised, too. I thought sure the British government would get some of it.
Ah, ok.
Says much about Gold,.....called Wealth, it held its value for centuries. Not so with meme coins, Bitcoins, paper currencies, electrons, equities, or anything else people think is “money”.
Big difference between “ money” and Wealth.
Twenty-six pounds in 1530, invested at just two percent per year, compounded annually, would come to about 518,000 pounds, or 140,000 pounds more than the family got. Which is why the Master cast out the servant who buried his talents.
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