CASHING IN
I found incredible treasure buried beneath my floorboards while renovating my kitchen – I’ve made £60,000 from discovery
The coins dated all the way back to Elizabeth I
A COUPLE have revealed how they made a whopping £60,000 after discovering hidden treasure beneath their floorboards.
Robert Fooks and wife Betty struck gold while renovating the kitchen of their Dorset home - finding a hoard of coins under the floor.
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They've now sold the 1,000-strong rare find at auction for £60,740.
The 17th-century cash was in a broken bowl found by agricultural engineer Robert as he carried out the work at his farmhouse.
A 1636 Charles I gold crown fetched the top price of £5,000, while another collector paid £2,700 for a James I coin dated 1621.
Other currency covered the reign of Elizabeth I and Phillip and Mary.
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The 1,000 items fetched nearly double the estimates of auctioneers Duke's.
The cash was also sent to the British Museum to be identified and cleaned.
Robert and Betty found the coins after they decided to remove the concrete floor to increase the height of the kitchen.
The stunned Betty said: "It is a 400-year-old house so there was lots of work to do.
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"We were taking all the floors and ceilings out and took it back to its stone walls.
"We decided to lower the ground floor to give us more ceiling height."
As Robert wielded a pickaxe by torchlight, he unearthed a hoard brimming with 400-year-old coins buried around two foot beneath ground.
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Among the 1,029 coins were pristine examples of gold King James I and King Charles I mints.
The 43-year-old added: "One evening, I was with the children and my husband was digging with a pick axe when he called to say they've found something.
"He put all the coins in a bucket and brought them home to me."
The currency dates back to the English Civil War era between 1642 and 1644.
The NHS health visitor said: "If we hadn't lowered the floor they would still be hidden there.
"It is amazing and fascinating [to find the hoard].
"I presume they were buried during the English Civil War and the person intended to retrieve them but never got the chance."
The coins went under the hammer at Duke's Auctioneers in Dorchester.
The extraordinary find was reported to a local finds officer and they were taken to the British Museum to be examined and cleaned.
Specialist at Duke's Auctioneers Julian Smith described the Fooks' cottage as a property steeped in history.
Coin specialist Julian Smith said: "The modern concrete floor was removed and the floor dug down by nearly 2ft to provide greater height to the downstairs of the property.
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"In some areas there were old flagstones under the concrete but the area the coins were found was bare earth.
"The coins have been with the British Museum for identification and cleaning, and they feel the coins were deposited on one occasion around 1642-4."
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