The Ellerby Hoard.
The top lot of the group, known as the Ellerby Hoard, was a George I guinea from 1720.
The coin has a minting error and has no King’s head (only two tails). Estimated at £3000-4000 it sold for a hammer price of £52,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) to a UK buyer at the sale on October 7.
The price of £62,400 (including premium) is an auction record for any brockage coin (this specific type of minting error) of any country, according to Spink.
A George I guinea from 1720 with a minting error featuring two tails but no head – £52,000 at Spink.
The hoard was discovered in the summer of 2019 and consigned to Spink in London.
Dating from the reign of James I to King George I, the group of coins were found in a soft-drinks can-sized earthenware cup no more than 8in (20cm) beneath the floor.
Spink said the original owners of the coins were the wealthy merchant Fernley-Maisters families of Hull. The hoard was probably amassed during the lifetime of Joseph Fernley and his second wife Sarah, daughter of Alderman Henry Maister.
The group enticed 372 bidders at the auction and sold for a hammer total of £628,600.
Other highlights of the white glove sale included a George I guinea from 1716, where the new Royal arms of the House of Hanover (the White horse) were mistakenly placed at the date, which sold for £8000.
George I guinea from 1716, where the new Royal arms of the House of Hanover (the White horse) were mistakenly placed at the date – £8000 at Spink.
Gregory Edmund, auctioneer and British coin specialist at Spink, said: “Buyers flocked from around the world to share in the story of Sarah and Joseph Fernley and the privilege of owning a part of their 292-year old treasure.”
