Pensioner hiding £75,000 coin collection

A rare collection of coins was hidden by seventy-two-year-old John Cross of Canterbury. Experts say it's worth £75,000 and contains some really rare coins. The treasure was only discovered after the pensioner's death. He was living alone in a caravan.

Few people actually knew that the retired man owned a coin collection. However, it was never mentioned anywhere, and so the public only found out about it after John Cross died. This extraordinary collection is being studied by experts at the British Museum, who have described it as very rare and perhaps one of the few of its kind.

The coins were discovered by executors who were clearing out John Cross's "mobile" home. He was living in a caravan in a park in Kent. There aren't many coins as such. The collection contains "only" 80, but each is worth several thousand pounds.

The man had the coins hidden in a bank, with only the documents on Anglo-Saxon mintages at home that led the bailiffs to the treasure. Cross had been amassing the collection for twenty to thirty years. Several of the coins are linked directly to Canterbury, where the man lived.

This city in East Kent, in the south-east of England, is the seat of the Archbishopric of Canterbury. And one silver penny in particular dates from 765 to 792 and was struck for the then Archbishop. It is worth between 2,000 and 2,500 British pounds.

Another coin worth £2,000 depicts Cuthred, who was King of Wessex of Anglo-Saxon from 740. The most valuable, however, is an extremely rare shilling that is almost 1400 years old. It is thought to be worth up to twelve thousand pounds.

The entire collection will now be auctioned off in several lots and the sale is expected to fetch approximately £75,000. The three-day auction is being organised by Canterbury Auction Galleries from 8 October. The proceeds will go to the British Numismatic Society and the Church of Kent, as John Cross wished.

Executors were literally blown away by the find. "During a search of personal effects it was clear that the gentleman was researching Anglo-Saxon and medieval history. He had quietly amassed an incredible collection of coins. He was as interested in coinage as he was in churches and early buildings," said a spokesman for the bailiffs.

Cross attended lectures, and was even interested in archaeology. His collection included many silver pennies in addition to the coins already mentioned. One of them dates from 1066 and was minted during the reign of King Harold II, who was killed at the Battle of Hastings. The approximate price is £1,500 to £2,000. Most of the remaining coins are then worth around £200.

Sources: www.kentonline.co.uk, www.chilterncoins.co.uk