Couple renovating kitchen find hoard of Civil War coins

A couple renovating the kitchen of a 17th-century cottage found a £35,000 coin hoard hidden under the floor.

Betty and Robert Fooks had recently bought the property and were carrying out work to remove the kitchen’s concrete floor to create more ceiling height.

Mr Fooks dug down 2ft with a pickaxe by torchlight and unearthed a smashed glazed pottery bowl full to the brim with 400-year-old coins.

The agricultural engineer counted 1,029 of the coins, including King James I and King Charles I gold pieces.

The hoard is believed to have been buried for safekeeping between 1642 and 1644 during the English Civil War.

The couple reported the discovery to local officials and the collection was then sent to the British Museum for cleaning and identification.

The coins are now coming up for sale at Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset.

The country cottage is part of a smallholding at South Poorton Farm, in a hamlet near Bridport, Dorset.

Mrs Fooks, a 43-year-old NHS health visitor, said: “It is a 400-year-old house so there was lots of work to do.

“We were taking all the floors and ceilings out and took it back to its stone walls.

“We decided to lower the ground floor to give us more ceiling height.

“One evening, 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 and brought them home to me.”

She added: “If we hadn’t lowered the floor they would still be hidden there. It is amazing and fascinating.

“I presume they were buried during the English Civil War and the person intended to retrieve them but never got the chance.”

The hoard, which was discovered in October 2019, also contained Elizabeth I, Philip and Mary silver shillings and sixpences.

The most valuable coins are a James I gold laurel coin and a Charles I gold unite coin dating from the 1620s, which are both tipped to fetch £2,000.

The hoard has been split into almost 100 lots by Duke’s Auctioneers.

Julian Smith, a specialist at the auctioneers, said: “The coins have been with the British Museum for identification and cleaning, and they feel the coins were deposited on one occasion around 1642-4.”

The sale takes place on April 23.