You wish you could be so lucky!

[Yankee]

Coin hoard exceeds sale estimate 
 
The coins were known as Unites
A hoard of gold coins found by a builder in the cellar of an Oxfordshire flat has sold at auction for £76,360.

The 400-year-old coins, minted during James I's reign, were valued by auctioneers at about £50,000 and were found in Chipping Norton 30 years ago.

They were bought by private buyers and trade dealers in a specialist coin auction in London.

The two rarest coins were sold earlier to the British Museum. There were 50 bidders for the remaining 57 coins.

The coins were known as Unites, signifying James I's intention to unify England and Scotland, and were worth about £1 in England when they were first produced.

Auctioneer James Moreton said the builder had given the coins to his grandson along with some other items in his personal collection.

He said: "The gentleman who found them originally didn't even realise they were gold.

"It was only much later, when his grandson showed them to me in 2005, that I was able to tell him what they really were."

 

[Beefy (GARETH)]

nice to find them in your house that you just bout wouldnt you...................

[waltonbasinman]

One thing does strike me here though folks. Nice find by the way. You buy a house and then find these. A good day I would say. My point is though how and why do the British Museum get first pick as such. Having worked and dealt in the Museum environment in my younger days I know that choice pickings tend to disappear from collections. Pre second world war is lost whilst moving or whatever, but since the war how do they do it. I have mentioned this on other threads that During excavations things tend to disappear, but once they get to the museum or FLO,s what happens then. Example at this very time, I have taken to my FLO a tin full of Flint scrapers, borers, knifes amongst the better tools dating from the Mesolithic thru to Iron Age, all found in the same field. Now I have left E-Mails, Phoned, personal visit twice while passing in all amounting to fifteen attempts at contact and he has had them for over a year. I am not the only person to have done this as my contact circle is wide and You do get the feeling something ain,t right. Any thoughts on this folks.

[hedgehog]

He is very busy Paul , welcome to my world  Hope you had a receipt for them he has had some of mine for over a year now, won't tell me where to go to see him and pick them up, except for the last friday of the month at the museum. Not going to see him again, took one and half hours of me standing around while he spoke to other people.
What I have done is e mailed him sent some info that he is particularly interested in (he is studying the spread of soldino's) and told him that I don't have the time to see him. He is coming to see me in September and I will remind him then of the bits that he still has before he comes!
If you tell him you have found some bronze age axes he will e mail you straight back !

[DIGGA]

SO IF FOR EXAMPLE I FOUND A HOARD OF GOLD COINS ,,,,,,,,,,, SENT THEM OFF ETC    HOW LONG WOULD YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CASH TO EXCHANGE HANDS THEN ??   

[the sutt]

hi digger. i waited for two and half years for my money off them ,
but now they are doing a fast track to day, but dont hold your breath.

[Neil]

I am just about to notch up a year waiting and still no news from the BM following the probate hearing!

It doesn't really encourage you to report stuff does it.

Neil

[jonny]

 I no we all try to do the right thing, but some of the experiences that others have certainly makes you wonder.


        Jonny

[ROMAN STEVE]

I put an intaglio in to the museum 1yr and 10mths ago
it was supposed to be returned to me i put a silver scabard mount in
sep 2008 still havent heard a thing so i have told mark lodwick
i wont be registering anything else when they do pay you out
they pay you pennies to me its just not worth it they call metaldetectorists
rotten for not registering finds whats the point when they mess you about

[waltonbasinman]

I think the more you look at the system the more it is stacked against us. But the museum system is shocking and who vets what is taken in and given or taken out of them. Has any one seen a museum store room. I have and you would not believe some of what  is tucked away.

[viking]

im still waiting on this ring its been months now nice find s tho