Release: MONDAY January 6, 2020
The dawn of a new year – in this case also a new decade— often brings optimism. It’s traditionally a time for ambitious plans and discoveries. At least, that’s what most might wish for.
An article published in a popular magazine reminded me of that optimistic bent. The title was, “5 Unexpected Places You Might Find Cash.” Excitedly, my mind envisioned long lost riches. Nope. Instead, the piece suggested places to find forgotten change, unused gift cards or lost receipts to use for returning items to stores. That was bleak. What I had in mind was more along the lines of the numerous exciting discoveries made in 2019.
One find came from an old George II writing desk in Derbyshire, England. A woman consigned the desk to a local auction. Before the sale, the auctioneer checked it over and found a secret drawer. Inside was a thick gold coin dating to 1365. The coin sold for over $1,000 – almost four times what the writing desk brought....
England does often seem to be the epicenter for great finds. In Hambleton, four amateur metal detecting treasure hunters uncovered an entire hoard of 14th-century gold and silver coins. The trove proved to be one of the largest caches of medieval coins found in a decade. The 550 coins dating from the time of the bubonic plague are valued at almost $200,000.
Another man from Dover got lucky when he and his brother dug up a pristine third-century gold coin near Kent, England. It only weighed 1/10 of an ounce but was exceptionally rare. It brought $665,000 becoming the most expensive Romano-British coin ever to be sold at auction.
Not all treasures last year were found underground. This story starts way back in 1831 when a set of 93 ivory chess pieces – hand carved in the 12th century from Scandinavian walrus tusks – were discovered on the Scottish island of Lewis. Those have long been considered the most historic and valuable chess pieces in history. Sadly, one piece, a rook, was missing from the set.
Fast-forward 133 years to 1964 when an Edinburgh antique dealer bought a curious ivory figure that looked like a troll. He paid a few dollars for it and put it in a drawer. Recently, the dealer’s grandchildren ran across it and did some research. They brought the small item it to Sotheby's in London. It was the famed lost chess piece, the rook! Last July, it sold for a staggering $885,000.
Examples of discovering lost treasure in 2019 go on and on. One last one involves King Henry VIII and his doomed second wife Anne Boleyn. In 1533, three years before he had her beheaded on trumped up charges, the two honeymooned on the Isle of Sheppey, also in Kent, England. Along with them went an entourage of assistants including bishops.
This past August, treasure hunter Ashley Solly found an ancient, solid gold bishop's ring on the Isle. Depicted on the relic is a clear image of the Madonna and Child. An estimate of several hundred thousand dollars for the gold ring is not out of the question, especially for an item that accompanied Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn on their honeymoon.
What will 2020 bring? It’s up to those who are sharp-eyed and simply take the time to look a little closer than the rest of us. I’ll keep you posted.
X X X X X X X
I can’t say they will be long-term treasures but the Mint has released information about five new America The Beautiful quarters to be issued in 2020. Unless a new series of quarters is conceived, these will be among the last in the 10-year series.
Those on tap to be introduced this year feature: the National Park of American Samoa; Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut; the Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in the US Virgin Islands; Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont; and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas.
Images on the coins vary from bats hanging upside down to people planting tiny tree saplings. What all the coins have in common is an ecological bent. That’s a positive harbinger for helping improve the planet in 2020. Keep an eye on your change. The first is due out in just a few days.