Coin hoard found under a farmhouse floor all sold in 'white glove' Dorset auction

When the owners of South Poorton Farm, a 17th century long-house situated in a small hamlet in west Dorset, started an extensive renovation project in 2019 they dug down by nearly 2ft to provide greater height to the downstairs of the cottage.

In some areas there were old flagstones under the concrete but in an area of bare earth a hoard was found while digging with a pickaxe by torchlight one late evening in October.

It comprised a wide variety including James I and Charles I gold coins, silver half crowns, shillings and sixpences, Elizabeth I, Phillip and Mary silver shillings and sixpences.

This collection of coins, now known as the Poorton Hoard, was offered as a stand-alone sale of 97 lots at Dorset auction house Duke’s on April 23. They met an enthusiastic response from bidders leading to a ‘white-glove’ (all sold) result notching up £60,000 hammer price total from a pre-sale estimate of £35,000. Bidding was half online and half in the room.

Duke’s said the coins had been with the British Museum “for identification and cleaning. They feel the coins were deposited on one occasion around 1642-4”.

The coins were found with a glazed pottery bowl which was unfortunately smashed either during the digging or before.

Golden buys

Top sellers in Dorchester were Charles I era coins. A Charles I Unite gold coin, c.1635-36, c.9.08gm, took £5000 against an estimate of £1000-2000, while a gold Unite coin, Castle, 1627-28, c.9.01gm, made £3800 with the same guide.

A Charles I gold Double Crown, c.1625, with high double-arched crown, the reverse with a square top shield (c.4.48g), sold for £3400 (estimate £1000-2000).

Sold as a group of 56 in total, silver shillings, Triangle in a Circle, c.1641-43, hammered at £3200 (estimate £500-1000).

Duke’s charges a 25% buyer’s premium on top of the hammer prices.