Golden discovery! £3k coin found in old desk
A 650-YEAR-OLD gold coin is set to sell for thousands of pounds at auction after it was found in a hidden drawer of a bureau.
The Raymond IV Prince of Orange Franc A Pied coin is dated 1365.
Its guide price is £1,200 to £1,800 but experts think it could sell for £3,000.
Amy Clapp was given the George II-style bureau by a distant cousin.
Mrs Clapp, 37, from Derbyshire, said: “I can’t even remember meeting my great-cousin but I received a letter from a solicitor before Christmas informing me that I’d been left various items of furniture. Apparently the will was written when I was 13-years-old.”
Mrs Clapp had no idea the drawer was in the bureau, worth £60, until she took it to an auctioneer.
The 14th century French gold coin was discovered by furniture valuer Edward Rycroft, at Hansons Auctioneers, in London.
During an inspection he found three secret drawers in the bureau, one containing the 22-carat gold coin.
Mr Rycroft said: “I know bureaux like this often have tiny, secret drawers – sometimes called coin drawers – so I always check them just in case. But in 10 years of valuing furniture I’ve never found anything in them until now.”
Mrs Clapp, a family support worker, said: “As a family, we have had some bad luck in the past two years, so for something like this to happen to us is amazing.”
Mr Rycroft said he knew straight away that the coin was special.
He added: “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever found by chance.
“If you’ve got an old bureau at home, do check for secret drawers. You may be sitting on a windfall too.”