A Couple Renovated Their Kitchen—and Stumbled Upon Buried Treasure From the 17th Century
The renovation of a 17th century long-house in England unearthed roughly 100 coins from during the first English Civil War.
The coins were recently sold at an auction, fetching roughly $75,000.
Lowering the floor of the farm’s cottage led the owners to the discovery.
In a remarkable discovery, a couple accidentally unearthed a treasure trove of 17th-century coins while renovating their farm in West Dorset, England.
The find, which occurred nearly five years ago, came as the couple dug deeper to increase the head height in their long-house cottage at South Poorton Farm. Robert Fooks struck a glazed pottery bowl with his pickaxe, revealing about 100 coins dating back to the first English Civil War.
The “Poorton Coin Hoard,” as it became known, included gold coins from James I and Charles I, as well as silver half crowns, shillings, and sixpences from the time of Elizabeth I, Phillip, and Mary. The collection recently sold for approximately $75,000 at Duke’s Auction House.
“One evening,” Betty Fooks told The Guardian, “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.”
The couple reported their find and sent the coins to the British Museum for cleaning and identification. Experts there told the Fooks that the coins were likely all hidden away at one time, sometime between 1642 and 1644, amidst the turmoil of the English Civil War.
That checks out, Waseem Ahmed, a doctoral student of history at University College London with expertise in 17th-century British political history, told Live Science. At the time, Dorset was a strategic location for troop movements during the war, which culminated in victory for the Parliamentarian alliance and the capture—and eventual execution—of King Charles I.
People would hide their valuables to protect them from being confiscated by opposing forces. “If you were a royalist or suspected royalist, you could have your estates sequestrated (seized) by the Parliamentary side and vice versa,” Dorset said.
The war left behind remnants of its chaos buried for over 400 years. “If we hadn’t lowered the floor, they would still be hidden there,” Betty Fooks told The Guardian. “I presume the person intended to retrieve them but never got the chance.”
Now, the Poorton Coin Hoard is adding another piece to the historical puzzle of a nation once gripped by civil war.
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