March 6, 2009 He found 59 coins in the cellar

Twelve years ago, coins found by a builder in Oxfordshire were for sale. He discovered 59 pieces of mintings from the reign of King James I of England. Their value was estimated by experts at fifty thousand pounds.

The man found the coin in the basement of an apartment building in Chipping Norton, sometime around 1980. He gave the treasure to his grandson, who was not allowed to sell it until 2009. The British Museum has bought the two rarest coins in its collections. The remaining 57 were sold in London in June 2009.

According to experts, the coins are about 400 years old. "During the English Civil War, people hid money, often underground. They didn't even have another safer way to keep their savings. The banks were not working at the time, "said auctioneer James Morton.

Each of the 59 coins found has a different design. They were said to be called "jacobuses". The coins were sold through the Morton and Eden auction halls. Estimates ranged from 400 to 2,500 pounds per coin.

The grandfather donated the coins to his grandson, who was only ten years old. The boy thus received a gift that he could monetize as an adult. The finder refused to declassify the specific place where the coins were located. He really only revealed that the treasure was in the basement.

For years, the boy had no idea what treasure he had received from his grandfather. He hid the coins in a shoebox. As an enthusiastic collector of various things, he often used them to store his collections. He liked the marks and shells he had accumulated. The true value of coins from my grandfather was discovered today by a 39-year-old man when he visited an event in Cheltenham, where they value coins and other items.

It was then that James Morton told him that the coins were of great value and reported the finding to the British Museum. "I went to an event in Cheltenham with my wife in the hope that we would pay for a honeymoon in Spain. We were pleasantly surprised by the value of the coins. It's crazy. We came up with a trip to Mexico, "said the coin owner, who did not want to publish the name.

Experts said that coins are exceptional and rare. They probably belonged to some wealthy merchant who hid them in bad times so he could pick up the coins again later. "I assume he am accumulating treasure in his house and for some reason he was never able to return to it," said coin expert Dave Ruskin.

Sources: www.bbc.com, www.oxfordmail.co.uk