Ultra-rare gold and silver coins discovered by metal detectors in 2019 are expected to fetch over £100,000 when sold in auction this April by Bloomsbury’s Spink & Son.
The 600-strong Hambleden Hoard was unearthed in a field on the Buckinghamshire Culden Faw Estate.
The Black Death era gold nobles of Edward III and accompanying silver coins are thought to have belonged to a uniquely powerful and literate medieval woman.
Upon the coroner’s classification of the coins as ‘treasure’, priority for acquisition goes to museums. But funding challenges meant no organisation could afford the collection.
Gregory Edmund, Spink auction CEO, said: “I was very surprised that it wasn’t acquired by local institutions because it is such a significant find. The Black Death was a seismic moment, and there’s very little trace of it in the landscape and coin record.”
The coins will likely be sold separately to various private buyers, who would be entitled to shield the historical artefacts from public view.
The seven years since discovery has allowed extensive research and recording, meaning the collection can still be studied in the decades to come.
Mark Becher, organiser of the Hambleden rally, said: “The sad part is the hoard will be split up and people won’t get to enjoy the story in its entirety.
“But it’s the final decision of the landowners and the finders. I can’t imagine that any of them are prepared to give up the sums of money they’re going to get, especially these days.”
Half of proceeds from the auction will be divided between the finders, including a hospital cleaner from Newcastle and a machine operator from Bristol.
Becher said: “The finders are just normal, everyday people. £50,000 is a big thing. Finding the Hambleden Hoard was like winning the lottery.”
The other half of proceeds will go to the estate owner, Swiss financier Urs Schwarzenbach.
“The landowner’s a little different. He’s probably already got enough money,” Becher jokes. “It’ll be some fuel for his helicopter.”
The Hambleden Hoard carries huge historical significance, as the 12 gold nobles found represent 33% of all known examples of the currency.
Edmund said: “There’s no comparable hoard that comes anywhere close to this.”
Extensive historical study suggests a wealthy woman named Margerie Peverel, whose silver matrix seal was found within the same field, had hidden the hoard.
“The fact that the land owned by a very successful and literate woman in the height of Medieval England was incredibly rare.”
The dates of the collection were matched almost exactly to those of Margerie Peverel’s land ownership. The coins were newly minted when they were buried in the floor or walls of a building that became underground ruins.
“The silver matrix seal is a tantalising clue as to the potential owner of these coins, which is a very difficult thing to establish after 600 years,” Edmund said.
“The fact we’ve got a story about a high-society woman, with serious money and power, just a day’s ride from London, is fantastic.”
Becher founded the Metal Detectives Group with his wife Karen in 2011. He worked in the NHS, before turning his passion into a full-time business.
On the day of the discovery, Becher walked just seven feet away from the site whilst preparing for the rally.
He said: “It wasn’t meant to be for me. I think some things like to be found by people. I know that might sound daft. It was those guys’ time. It was meant to be for them. The universe was smiling on them.”
He said interest in metal detecting has seen “exponential growth” since the 2014 release of BBC drama ‘Detectorists’ starring Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.
“The Portable Antiquity Scheme can’t keep up with the amount of people who are trying to get appointments to record their finds at the moment,” Becher said.
Edmund, who worked as a scholar at the British Museum before moving to auctions, said: “I feel a huge burden to do this properly. I can see both sides of the coin, and I don’t just mean that as a pun.”
“I see the importance of telling the story of the coins, purely as historical objects, taking away the monetary value.
“It will be a high watermark of my career to bring this extraordinarily important hoard to market.”
The Hambleden Hoard auction will start at 11am on 17 April.
Featured image credit: Spink & Son
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