Auction put on hold for Charter coins
PLANS to sell pieces of rare gold salvaged from a 19th century shipwreck have been put on hold amid calls they should be put on public display instead.
Valued at £4,000,the items were unearthed by a diver in the 1970s while searching the remains of the Royal Charter, which smashed against rocks off Moelfre, Anglesey, during a force 12 storm in October 1859.
The widow of one of the divers, Mr John Leyland, had decided to sell the six sovereigns, one half sovereign, eternity and signet rings and nugget pin at auction next month.
But the auction house, Halls, has now confirmed the sale has been postponed after some of the divers called for them to instead go on public display on Anglesey.
Peter Day from Tynygongl near Benllech, a fellow member of the collective who dived the site from 1972, said: “We had an agreement with the authorities at the time that the group would be the custodian of the gold and that no individual from the group could offer the items for sale without the express permission of all concerned.
“I and the other members of the group don’t want to sell the items to private individuals.
“We think they should be added to the display at the RNLI ‘Seawatch Centre’ at Moelfre, near the location of the tragedy.”
Back in 1972, the group known as ‘The Royal Charter Salvage Expedition,’ declared the gold it discovered to the then ‘Customs & Excise Receiver of Wreck’, Mr Fredrick Wells in Holyhead.
Mr Day has contacted the current ‘Receiver of Wreck’ in Southampton who confirmed that the items were held in the custody of the group.
The Royal Charter was returning from Melbourne to Liverpool, laden with Australian gold, when she smashed against rocks off Moelfre during a force 12 storm in October 1859.
Only 21 passengers and 18 crew members, all men, survived as 450 lives were lost – the highest death toll of any shipwreck off the Welsh coast.
Jeremy Lamond of Halls, confirmed to the Daily Post that the sale of the items had been put on hold while discussions continued, but said the option of selling off the gold in future “remained a possibility”.
Mr Day added: “It would be a shame to lose such valuable pieces of local history solely for their cash value.
“We would like to see these items on display to add to the archive and historical record.”
“We accept that if the custodianship of one fifth of the gold has transferred to the widow of Mr John Leyland Smart then she is part of the collective.
“We hope we can work with her to secure the transfer of the gold to the ‘Seawatch Centre’ at Moelfre.
“Many of the passengers and crew were killed by being dashed against the rocks rather than by drowning.
“It was a terrible night and no women and children survived.
“These items link us to the 450 people who lost their lives in the tragedy.”