Mason Jones (Reporter)
A BRITISH widow has sold a 310-year-old Spanish coin she found in a chest of drawers for over €300,000 at auction.
The five guinea coin, which the unnamed woman discovered among her late husband’s clothes, was made in 1702 from gold stolen from a Spanish treasure ship.
It was one of only 20, produced to detract attention from the British fleet’s failure to take Cadiz the same year.
“A client of ours asked to bring in some coins that she had found at home,” said Leslie Gillham of Gorringes auctioneers. “I wasn’t really excited at the time because most coins we came across are worth very little.
“I sought a second opinion which confirmed it was genuine. Her husband was a professional man and beyond that we have no idea how he came by it. He must have inherited it,” he added.
