200 historic coins found in home during renovations

By Tom Bevan

A pensioner is celebrating a huge windfall after more than 200 historic coins thought to have been left by smugglers were found during a house extension.

Peter Gray, now 79, received a call from builders 22 years ago to say they had discovered a pottery vessel with 213 coins inside.

They had been working on a new extension at his home near Blandford Forum, Dorset, at the time.

Peter, a retired international bank inspector, has now sold the coins at auction for more than $60k as he and his wife Jackie are moving house.

A total of 200 of the coins, the majority dating from the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509) were auctioned at Noonans Mayfair on Tuesday.

They fetched a hammer price of $61,735 - double the pre-sale estimate.

Peter said: “The builders were removing the parking area with a mechanical digger when they discovered some terracotta tiles, and when they removed them, they unearthed the pottery vessel.

"The cottage dates from the 1500/ 1600s and it was a wonderful surprise when I was told about them – you never expect to find a hoard of coins.

"Who they belonged to, we don’t know, but the cottage isn’t too far from the Dorset Gap which was a route that linked the South Coast to Dorchester and Salisbury, so it is possible that they were hidden by a smuggler.”

Gray went through the Treasure Trove process, and 13 coins were bought by Dorset Museum. He also bought out the builders, who were eligible to half the proceeds.

The highest price of the sale was paid for a Tentative issue Groat with an excellent portrait of Henry VII, which fetched a hammer price of $2,600 against an estimate of $400-500.

Bradley Hopper, Head of Coin department at Noonans said: "The prices of the top three lots reflected the strength of the world market as they bought by buyers in the USA, UK and Australia and all well exceeded our expectations.

"This was dueto their quality, condition and how well they had been preserved.

“The most exciting coin in the collection was Lot 237, (the Groat) which sold extremely well due to the strength of the portrait, as it is the first Naturalistic depiction on an English coin, and is a wonderful likeness of Henry VII.”

Jim Brown, a coin specialist at Noonans added: "The Littlebrook Hoard was originally called the Okeford Fitzpaine Hoard, when it was discovered in May 2004 at the grade 2 listed dwelling.

"The hoard comprises 213 silver coins, consisting of 176 groats and 37 half groats in varying condition with the bulk dating from the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509).

"The coins are all English silver issues and of the official sterling silver standard.

"The fact that the coins were discovered in a container is clear evidence that they were deposited on a single occasion and they represent a selected body of higher value silver coins from the currency of the early sixteenth century, before the new weight standard of 1526 was introduced.

"The earliest coin recorded was a half groat from the reign of Edward III, dated c. 1351-2, and the latest a half groat issued from York after Wolsey was appointed bishop in 1514. The coins are thought to have been deposited probably c. 1514-1520.”