Buried treasure! Widow discovers rare coin worth £120,000...

[Neil]

By Anna Edwards


A woman who cleared out her late husband’s chest of drawers was stunned when she found an old coin inside worth £120,000.

The unidentified widow had no idea her husband had the gold piece stashed away among his clothes and didn’t think it was valuable at first. It was only when an expert inspected it that it was revealed to be a ‘lost’ coin made from gold seized by the British from a Spanish treasure ship in 1702.
 
To celebrate the victory over an adversory, the Royal mint had about 20 Queen Anne Vigo five guinea coins made.

The coins, that have the Queen’s bust on one side, would have been very expensive at the time and became a collectable item. 

Of the 20 that were struck, only 15 are known of and they are in private hands.
It is thought the woman’s late husband inherited the exceptionally rare coin as he showed no interest in coin collecting when he was alive.

The pensioner, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, is now selling the item at auction.
It has a pre-sale estimate of between £80,000 to £120,000.

Leslie Gillham, of auctioneers Gorringes, said: 'A client of ours asked to bring in some coins that she had found at home.
'I wasn’t really excited at the time because most coins we came across are worth very little.
'She produced from her hand bag one or two old silver coins worth a few pounds. I flippantly said "its a pity you haven’t got any gold ones" and she said that she had.
 
After being discovered in a drawer, the rare coin will be sold by Gorringes and expected to fetch between £80,000 and £120,000

'With that she produced this 1703 five guinea piece. She said she had found it in her late husband’s chest of drawers and he died some years ago.
'She knew nothing about it at all and neither did her grown-up children. I thought that it must have been a fake. She left it with me to do some more research on.
'I sought a second opinion which confirmed it was genuine and I went and saw her to give her the good news.
'She was very cool over it.
'Her husband was a professional man and beyond that we have no idea how he came by it. He must have inherited it.'
The series of Vigo coins were made out of 7.5lbs of gold seized from a Spanish galleon.
After the British failed to capture Cadiz in October 1702, the fleet intercepted a Spanish treasure ships coming back from America in Vigo Bay.
 
Raid: The gold was taken from a Spanish treasure ship coming back from America in Vigo Bay following a failed attempt to take Cadiz
The British attacked Spanish fleet and captured the gold and silver on board.
Mr Gillham said: 'The treasure was received at the Royal Mint by the Master of the Mint, Sir Isaac Newton.
'It was decided that the treasure had to be coined as part of a propaganda opportunity.
'About 20 of the Queen Anne Vigo five guinea coins were struck and they would have been bought by seriously wealthy people at tthe time and kept as part of the family treasure.
'This coin is in an extremely fine condition. It is very rare and is one of the most desirable gold coins around.'

The coin, that has the pre-union coat of arms on the reverse, is to be sold at Gorringes in Tunbridge Wells on December 6.

[Mungo]

tidy coin..........

[WeCan-Octavian]

Taff will be excited !

[Val Beechey]

WOW.  Think I'd better go through Johns drawers, Just in case.

Val

[Mike]

WOW.  Think I'd better go through Johns drawers, Just in case.

Val

  ,  VAL !!!!!!!  , there may be young un's on here , what john keeps in his drawers is his business 

[rjm]

...............so she'll be coining it now her husband's gone! 

[dances with badgers]

whats in my drawers is priceless ladies but not as big as that coin lol