The couple discovered a hoard of gold and silver coins from the 17th century. They sold it for nearly two million

Five years ago, Robert and Betty Fooks fulfilled a dream when they bought a 17th century farmhouse in South Poorton, Dorset. The dream soon turned into a fairytale reality when, while digging up an old floor, they discovered over 1,000 gold and silver coins from the English Civil War, worth just under two million crowns...

When the Fooks bought the small 400-year-old farmhouse in West Dorset, they discovered it was in need of extensive renovation. The kitchen had low ceilings, so they decided to remove the concrete floor. They then went through old paving stones and smothered clay, getting 60cm deeper. One evening in October, Robert was digging through the soil with a pickaxe when he came across a glazed ceramic bowl. It was broken and contained undamaged gold and silver coins.

"That evening I was with the children and my husband was digging with the pickaxe when he called out that he had found something. He put all the coins in a bucket. If we hadn't lowered the floor, they would still be hidden there," said Betty Fooks. "I assume the man wanted to retrieve them, but never got the chance," she added.

The treasure was immediately reported to the local finds liaison officer. It was then taken to the British Museum for cleaning, documentation and later valuation. The set of 1,029 coins included gold coins, silver shillings and sixpences of James I and Charles I. There were also silver shillings and sixpences of Elizabeth I, Philip and Mary. They were deposited together sometime between 1642 and 1644, at the beginning of the First English Civil War.

When war broke out in August 1642, Dorset and its ports were seized by Parliament. But in 1643 it was largely taken by Royalist forces. Although no major battles were fought, troops on both sides were constantly moving in and out of the area, requisitioning supplies, burning towns and generally causing misery, fear and violence. During this period, people preferred to hide their valuables. Someone once put them under the floor of a farmhouse and never brought them back...

Because the find is over 300 years old, contains precious metal, and is a grouping of multiple coins, it meets the definition of an official treasure. Normally, such a find would end up in the possession of the Crown and the local museum would be given the opportunity to acquire it at an appraisal price. However, apparently none of the museums wanted it or were able to raise the cash because the treasure was returned to the finders and they offered it for auction.

The auction house's estimate before their sale was £35,000. However, on April 23, all the coins were sold for almost double that - £60,740 (nearly £1.8 million). Including fees and commissions for £78,000 (about 2.3 million crowns). The most expensive was a gold coin of Charles I from 1636, which was auctioned for £5,000 (about 147,000 crowns). In second place was a gold coin of Charles I from 1627, with a price of about 112,000 crowns.

Sources: theguardian.com, thehistoryblog.com, dailymail.co.uk

floor reconstruction

coins and fragments of the bowl

Mr and Mrs Fooks in their reconstructed kitchen

The farm with the reconstructed house (right)

gold coin of Charles I.

selection of gold and silver coins from the hoard

some of the coins

the hoard contained 1,029 gold and silver coins