Milford couple discover Tudor coin stash while weeding back garden, now set to sell it through Numismatics in Zurich, Switzerland, for £230,000

A MILFORD couple who dug up a gold coin hoard while weeding their back garden are now set to sell it for £230,000.

The husband and wife found the stash of 70 Tudor coins in clumps of clay soil, writes Paul Vass.

After wiping off the mud and laying the coins out in their decking they realised the gold pieces were in a remarkable state of preservation.

The earliest coins date to the reign of King Henry VI in the 1420s, although a large number are from the 1530s and the reign of Henry VIII.

Some contain the initials of two of Henry’s wives, Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour.

The hoard may have been buried for safekeeping by a wealthy cleric of nearby Christchurch Priory during the time of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries and Catholic priories.

The couple, who asked not to be named for fear of treasure hunters, notified the authorities of their find in 2020.

Although the hoard was declared treasure at the time, it was later disclaimed and returned to the couple as no museums or institutions were in a position to buy it due to the Covid hiatus.

The coins are now set to go under the hammer at David Guest Numismatics’ auction in Zurich, Switzerland. They are being sold individually but the overall estimate for them is £230,000.

The vendors were said to be “excited” about the sale which will be “like a lottery win” for them.

Auctioneer David Guest said: “It is a fantastic hoard found by a couple while they were gardening at the end of the garden of their home.

“They were digging in a flower border and found these circular discs in a clump of clay soil.

“They put them on the decking and washed them off and realised they were gold coins so they carried on digging and found a total of 64 of them in the same spot.

“After they notified the Portable Antiquities Scheme the coins were examined by the British Museum.

“They organised a further archaeological dig of the site and found six more coins.

“They are in a remarkable state of preservation.”

Mr Guest said the hoard could be linked to Christchurch Priory: “It is clearly a savings hoard put together over a large period of time.

“The total amount was £26, which was about the price of a house back then

“It was a lot of money. I doubt most people in England at the time ever saw a gold coin.

“The gold coins could have belonged to a merchant of considerable wealth or a church cleric who was very rich.

“Milford would have been part of the estate of Christchurch Priory at the time.

“The dissolution of the monasteries was a very tumultuous time and we know that other hoards were buried at this time to keep money away from the King’s commissioners that sought to take control of lands.”

Mr Guest said the vendors are a couple aged in their 50s with two children.

He said: “They have lived at the house for quite a long time and were sitting on a gold mine!

“I don’t think anyone digging in their back garden can imagine what it would be like to find one gold coin from Tudor times let alone a hoard of 70.

“The combined pre-sale estimate is a considerable amount of money and a life changing amount for the vendors.

“I have invited them out for the sale but I don’t know if they are coming yet but they are very excited.

“We have had considerable interest. People love stories about the thrill of finding buried treasure.

“Combined with the quality of many of the coins and the state of preservation adds to the appeal.”

The sale takes place on 5th November.